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Citizens Review Board budget retains three positions; board seeks part-time data analyst not included in current budget
Summary
The Citizens Review Board’s proposed budget retains three staff positions, but a part‑time data analyst the board requested (estimated at about $45,000) was not included in the version of the budget before the committee; a one‑time $100,000 software request was moved into citywide IT/finance.
The Citizens Review Board presented its budget request to the committee and discussed staffing, software and data needs the board says are necessary to carry out oversight work.
Why it matters: The board’s ability to analyze complaint, use-of-force, and other policing data depends on staff capacity and tools. The board’s founders and city council members have argued a dedicated analyst increases transparency and enables evidence-based recommendations.
Budget and staffing: The board’s current recommended budget retains three funded positions in the book: an auditor, a deputy auditor and an administrative role the board says will be staffed as an executive assistant (a substitution for an older assistant position). The board noted committees meet monthly; stipends for board members are $100 per meeting.
Software and data analyst request: Board representatives said they had included a one-time software request (~$100,000) in an earlier draft, but finance staff and the mayor reassigned that acquisition to a citywide IT/finance budget line; the transcript records staff saying the software funding is now in the citywide budget and that annual maintenance amounts are unknown until the software is procured. The board and council members also discussed a part-time data analyst the board had sought — staff said a part-time analyst (estimated at about $45,000 as a part-time cost in the board’s original request) was not included in the budget currently before the committee.
Rationale for analyst: The police auditor (role title used in the discussion) described five oversight benefits of an analyst: identifying systemic issues, assessing policy impact, supporting evidence-based recommendations, enhancing public trust through transparent data publication, and mitigating legal risk by spotting trends that could reduce liability. The auditor argued a dedicated analyst is important because oversight work is fluid and requests for data come unpredictably.
What was not specified: The board did not receive a committed line-item for the analyst in the version of the budget discussed; the transcript does not include a final decision to fund that position. The exact software vendor, procurement timetable, and projected annual maintenance costs were not specified in the committee discussion.
Next steps: Council members and staff discussed bringing back more detail about goals, past activity and the board’s requested tools; staff said they would provide the report and additional information to council.
