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Independent Citizens Advisory Board reports steady caseload; reviews professional standards findings
Summary
Catalina Velarde, chair of Overland Park’s Independent Citizens Advisory Board regarding racial profiling and nonbiased policing, told the Public Safety Committee the volunteer board reviews about a dozen cases annually and usually affirms Professional Standards Unit findings but sometimes recommends counseling or further training.
Catalina Velarde, chair of the Independent Citizens Advisory Board regarding racial profiling and nonbiased policing, briefed the Public Safety Committee on the volunteer board’s role and caseload.
Velarde said the board is approaching its 20th anniversary and now has seven members. “We are the public’s eye into any citizen complaints that involve any India or tinge of potentially bias policing,” she said. The board meets quarterly; cases forwarded to the board have already been reviewed and evaluated by the department’s Professional Standards Unit.
Velarde told the committee the board typically reviews three to four cases per meeting, roughly a dozen cases a year, and that the majority of the board’s findings agree with Professional Standards’ conclusions. On some occasions the advisory board’s review results in recommendations for counseling or additional training even when it concurs with the professional standards outcome.
If the advisory board disagrees with the Professional Standards Unit, Velarde said there is an additional state-level review (named in the transcript as CPOS; the committee asked for clarification of that acronym) and that the board’s findings are advisory to the police chief. “The board's advisory to the chief,” she said; disciplinary determinations remain the department’s purview.
Committee members asked about anonymous complaints and access to body-worn camera footage; Velarde said the board has occasionally reviewed reports that began anonymously and that, when relevant, body-worn camera footage is available for executive-session review to inform the board’s discussion.
Velarde invited questions and told the committee the board will continue regular reporting; she also noted the committee’s request to ensure missing board minutes are posted online.
