August 21, 2018

Judge John A. West; Director S. Gregory Baker

1. Patrick Duhany, Acting City Manager 
2. New Members and Departures 
3. Community Breakfast Recap
   
4. Peace Bowl Recap (Dr. Robin S. Engel)
5. Update from the Office of Equity, Inclusion and Community Impact (Dr. Bleuzette Marshall)
   

Dr. Engel; Judge West

1. Office of Safety and Reform
2. Department of Public Safety
3. CAC transition to CCC

Roberto Villaseñor, Monitor, Exiger; Dr. Engel

1. Bi-Annual Report
2. 6th Quarterly Report
3. Monitorship Timeline

Chief Maris Herold

Judge West

CAC Members

• Judge John West, Chair 
• Eric Abercrumbie 
• Doug Barge 
• Yasmin Chilton 
• Kenneth Davis 
• Peg Fox 
• Bobby Hilton 
• Kennerly Newlin 
• Terri Theetge 
• Charlene Ventura
  

UC Administration

• Robin Engel 
• Bleuzette Marshall 
• Maris Herold 
  

Additional Participants

• Tom Mischell, UC Board of Trustees 
• Patrick Duhany, Acting City Manager 
• Roberto Villasenor, Exiger 
• Denise Lewis, Exiger
  

Judge West and Dr. Engel

• Judge West began the CAC meeting by introducing two new members: (1) Officer Kennerly Newlin, who will serve as the new UCPD representative and (2) Megdelawit (Sinna) Habteselassie, who will serve as the new Student Government representative. Officer Doug Barge will be departing from serving on the CAC, and committee members commended his service during his three years of service on the council. Bashir Emlemdi, former Student Government President also departed from the CAC at the end of the spring semester. 
• Dr. Engel and external monitor, Roberto Villasenior (Exiger) presented to the Board of Trustees’ Audit and Risk Management Committee earlier in the day. Dr. Engel reported that the reform update was well received. Board of Trustees Member, Tom Mischell, joined the CAC meeting. 
• The Office of Safety and Reform invited the City Manager’s Advisory Group (MAG) to community breakfast forum held in June. Approximately 33 people attended the community breakfast meeting, which included a well-received question and answer session. 
• Dr. Engel and Director Baker met directly with Acting City Manager Patrick Duhany over the summer. Mr. Duhany was invited to attend the CAC meeting to observe. 
• Mr. Duhany noted his interest in learning more about the work and structure of the CAC as he seeks to refresh the work of the MAG. 
• The Peace Bowl was held at the end of July, with over 1,000 athletes aged 4-12 years old participating over the 3-day event hosted at UC. The Peace Bowl is a youth football classic designed to promote non-violence by building positive relationships among youth from different inner-city neighborhoods. The 25 football teams who attended this year brought together more than 650 athletes ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old, from local Cincinnati neighborhoods, along with teams from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. In addition, nearly 200 cheerleaders, ranging in age from 4 – 13 years old, participated in a cheer showcase. Police officers from the University of Cincinnati Police Division were on hand to interact and make connections with participants and attendees. All participants were provided a Bearcat Under Armour T-shirt with the Peace Bowl logo. A presentation ceremony was held on Saturday which included a proclamation from City of Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley. 
  

Dr. Marshall

• Four members of the CAC attended an informational session hosted by the Office of Equity, Inclusion and Community Impact (EICI) on July 30. This session included updates and current statistics on several topics such as UC students, faculty/staff, programmatic initiatives to build an inclusive campus and trainings provided by the Office. 
• The Office of EICI has also been holding trainings and workshops at the UCPD. They began in January and include various discussions and conversations. Four main topics were covered: (1) anti-harassment and non-discrimination, (2) diversity, equity and inclusion, (3) emotional intelligence and diversity and, (4) implicit bias. The Office of EICI will have another session on informed discussions—these will include conversations regarding “hot topics”, or topics which are controversial in nature. 
• The Office of EICI also plans to hire a student who will work on engagement between the UCPD and the university community. 
  

Judge West and Dr. Engel

• As noted in an email to CAC Members, the Office of Safety and Reform will be dissolved, effective 12/31/18. This will include the elimination of the positions of Vice President for Safety and Reform, and Director of Police-Community Relations. 
• Dr. Engel will return to her position as Professor in the School of Criminal Justice. 
• Director Greg Baker will also wrap-up his work by the end of the year. Both Dr. Engel and Director Baker will be working with the staff of the Department of Public Safety to develop a plan for sustainability of the reform efforts moving forward. 
• Dr. Engel will continue her work with the UCPD as a member of the CAC. 
• Jim Whalen, Director of Public Safety will report directly to the University President. Judge West will serve as a special advisor to the University President. 
• The external monitorship of the UCPD will also conclude at the end of 2018. It was originally projected on a three-year schedule, however the work will be finalized one year in advance. 
• The CAC will continue, but in a slightly different capacity. The name of the council will change to the Community Compliance Council (CCC). The work of the CCC will primarily focus on the sustainability of UCPD reforms through compliance checks, particularly related to reviews of the investigatory process for use of force incidents and citizen complaints. 
• Two specific Exiger recommendations will involve the CCC—the use of force review board and citizen complaints review board. Dr. Engel proposed establishing a specific structure for CCC review. This will be developed in the coming weeks and presented to the CCC for feedback. 
  

Roberto Villasenor, Exiger

• Exiger Monitor, Roberto Villasenor, provided an update regarding Quarter 6 of the UCPD Monitorship. 
• The Quarter Six Updates are as follows: 
  • Initial Assessment of 223 of the 276 (81%) Exiger Recommendations 
  • Substantial Compliance: 211 of 276 (76%) ERs 
  • No Further Evaluation: 121 of 276 (44%) ERs 
  • Partial Compliance: 8 ERs (3%) 
  • Determination Withheld: 3 ERs (1%) 
  • Non-Compliant: 1 (less than 1%) 
  • Under Assessment (Q7): 78 ERs, to include 40 initial assessments 
  • Not yet evaluated: 13 ERs (5%) 
• All 276 recommendations will be submitted for evaluation by the end of 2018. 
• Given the rapid pace and additional work required this quarter, Exiger will not return for an on-site visit until after the end of the monitorship. A final report will be available in late February or early March 2019. Exiger will present the final results in-person to the CAC and Board of Trustees at that time. 
  

Chief Maris Herold

• UCPD hired three new officers this year, including two officers that went through the Cincinnati Police Academy. There have also been two promotions at UCPD, one sergeant and one lieutenant. 
• For the current hiring process, UCPD started with 240 applicants, but over 100 applicants left the application process before the physical exam for various reasons – all stages of the recruitment and hiring process are being systematically documented and will be presented to the CAC at the completion of the hiring cycle. 
• The hiring process is currently in the background investigation stage. The UCPD is trying to shorten the amount of time for the hiring process, which can take between 6 and 8 months. Approximately 50 people remain in the process. Chief Herold indicated she was pleased with the qualifications and diversity of the remaining candidates. They plan to finish the hiring process by late November or early December. The specific number of officers to be hired will depended on the applicant pool and the budget. 
• The UCPD introduced informational sessions this year in an effort to increase retention in the recruitment process. Despite being recognized as a best practice, these information sessions were not well attended (only 13% of the applicants attended) and did not provide the types of results anticipated. At the conclusion of the hiring cycle, all processes and procedures will be reviewed to determine their effectiveness in attracting and retaining candidates.
  

The next CAC meeting will be held December 4, 2018 from 5 PM to 7 PM.