December 8, 2015

Honorable Judge John A. West

1. Clarence Newsome
2. Representative from the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Greater Cincinnati
3. 2016 Meeting Calendar
   

S. Gregory Baker, Director of Police Community Relations

Professor Emily Houh

Dr. Robin S. Engel, Vice President for Safety & Reform

1. UCPD Review, continued 
2. Surveys 
3. Request for Proposals Update
   

James Whalen, Director of Public Safety

S. Gregory Baker, Director of Police Community Relations

1. Community Outreach: Faith Community Forum on UCPD Reform Effort
   

• Tuesday, January 12, 2016 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in 320 University Pavilion 
• Tuesday, February 9, 2016 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in 320 University Pavilion
  

CAC Members

• Judge John West (Chair) 
• Eric Abercrumbie 
• Doug Barge 
• Marcus Bethany 
• Dejanay Drummonds 
• Michael Ealy 
• Peg Fox 
• Aaron Greenlea 
• Bobby Hilton 
• Chara Fisher Jackson 
• Jack Martin 
• Janet Moore 
• Andrew Naab 
• James Schwab 
• KZ Smith 
• Ennis Tait 
• Terri Theetge 
  

UC Administration

• S. Gregory Baker 
• Robin Engel 
• Bleuzette Marshall 
• James Whalen 
• Meg Morris 
• Gabrielle Isaza
  

Board of Trustee Members

• Rob Richardson 
• Geraldine Warner
  

Judge John West

• Notified CAC that Dr. Clarence Newsome will be stepping down as a CAC Member because he is unable to regularly attend meetings; may reengage at a later date. 
• Welcomed new CAC Member, Reverend Aaron Greenlea, a member of the Baptist Ministers Conference. 
• Discussed future meeting dates. Meetings will be held on the fourth (4th) Tuesday of each month. 
• Introduced Board of Trustees members in attendance: Rob Richardson and Ginger Warner. 
• Introduced and thanked Professor Houh and law students for presenting their Community Storytelling Project to CAC.
  

Professor Emily Houh

• Professor Houh thanked CAC for allowing her students to present. 
• Students introduced themselves and discussed the five themes of their Community Storytelling Project. 
  • 1) Feelings; 2) Why; 3) Who do UCPD & University protect; 4) Status Quo; 5) Voices 
  • Played audio clips of community members interviewed. 
  • Interviewees included non-student community resident, Hughes High School student, local business owner and employee, and UC students (graduate and undergraduate). 
  • Group will continue developing their project, to be completed in Spring 2016.
    

Vice President Robin Engel

• Continued presentation - Overview of University of Cincinnati Police Department (UCPD) and crime trends in the areas around campus. 
  • Provided answers to questions raised at 11/10/15 CAC meeting, including the demographics of UC Public Safety, and additional questions regarding crime trends. 
  • Discussed short-term and long-term initiatives for increasing diversity within UCPD. UC will pay for police academy for Security Officers (SO) who wish to become police officers. Two current SO’s are now in police academy to become PO’s in next few months after passing state testing. 
  • Confirmed that January agenda will include detailed information regarding the process followed by UCPD for prior hiring of officers in 2014 and 2015. 
• CAC agreed it would be useful to have a document with key referral materials, including UCPD Patrol area maps, officer demographic information, etc. Document will be produced and distributed at next meeting. 
• Discussed three surveys developed/planned as a method for gathering input: 
  • Enhancing Campus Public Safety Survey 
    • Administered to all UC students, faculty, staff 
    • Administered in Apr 2014, Nov 2014, Nov 2015 
  • Perceptions of Police Survey 
    • Currently being developed 
    • To be administered to all UC students, faculty, staff, likely in Feb 2016 
  • UCPD Perceptions Survey 
    • Currently being developed 
    • To be administered to all sworn UCPD Officers, likely in Feb 2016 
  • Key findings from previous Campus Public Safety Survey were reviewed. 
  • Purpose of the Campus Public Safety Survey was to provide baseline measures of experiences, attitudes, and behaviors related to crime and public safety. 
  • Goal: On-going assessment across multiple years; Use findings to inform strategic plan. 
  • Discussed five core areas that were examined in the Campus Public Safety Survey: 
    • Perceptions of crime on and near campus 
    • Victimization experiences on and near campus 
    • Fear of victimization on and near campus 
    • Familiarity with UC public safety initiatives 
    • Engagement in behaviors that increase risk of victimization 
• CAC members can access all information presented, along with final reports of the surveys and crime summaries on the Safety and Reform website at www.uc.edu/safety-reform and the Public Safety website at www.uc.edu/publicsafety.
  

Dr. Robin Engel

• Discussed timeline of RFP o RFP Issued - Nov 16, 2015 
  • RFP Responses due - Dec 21, 2015 
  • Contractor Selection - Jan 25, 2016 
  • Interim Report Due - Apr 4, 2016 
  • Final Report Due - May 16, 2016 – This date may need to be adjusted based on bidders. 
• Discussed RFP Selection Process and Criteria 
  • Selection committee identified: 
    • Four CAC members: Bishop Bobby Hilton, James Schwab, Rev. KZ Smith, Charlene Ventura 
    • Four UC staff members: Robert Ambach, Greg Baker, Kenya Faulkner, and Bleuzette Marshall 
    • Robin Engel and James Whalen will serve as subject matter experts if the selection committee has specific questions regarding content of the proposals. 
    • Robin Engel will develop a scoring sheet for the selection committee to use when evaluating proposals. Criteria will also be shared with CAC Members via email for informational purposes. 
  • Finalists (likely 2-3 teams) will be invited to campus the weeks of January 11th and 18th for on-site interviews. CAC members will be invited to hear presentations, and invited to provide feedback to Judge West and Robin Engel. 
  • Final selection decision will be made jointly by President Santa Ono, Judge John West, and Dr. Robin Engel. 
• Judge West noted that there are two CAC student representatives: Dejanay Drummonds and Andrew Naab. If UC students would like to voice concerns related to the selection process, they may contact their student representatives, who can then raise these concerns with the CAC if they deem it appropriate to do so.
  

Director James Whalen

• Discussed Mutual Aid Agreement with Hamilton County that is signed by every police agency in Hamilton County. This agreement has been used for decades. 
• Discussed MOU with the City of Cincinnati. 
  • The MOU was originally signed in 2009 due to an increase in crime in the Uptown Campus area. 
  • MOU gives UCPD officers full police authority within the City’s jurisdiction. 
  • Authority was restricted in July, 2015 to: 
    • Patrol 
    • Response to calls for service 
    • Immediate action for crimes in progress 
  • UCPD is currently patrolling area around campus. They are not engaging in involuntary stops of citizens on foot or in vehicles. 
• Discussions are on-going with city partners to revise the MOU; this process will continue over the next several months. 
• CAC Members will be asked to discuss and make recommendations regarding UCPD patrolling activities in the areas surrounding campus.
  

CAC and audience members

• Q: What is plan for hiring a diversified police force, specifically African Americans? 
• A: UCPD continues to try to recruit and retain more African Americans. Director Whalen is currently working with Bob Ambach on a diversity hiring plan. UCPD has reached out to CPD for input. 
• Q: Is UCPD competitive with other police agencies? 
• A: Salaries are comparable, and on top of that UC offers tuition remission—a potential draw for officers. One potential issue is seniority and contractual levels—when an officer is transferred to a new agency, they have to work their way up. 
• Q: If UCPD hires CPD officers, will this cause conflict with CPD officers who work UC details on and around campus or with the CPD in general? 
• A: Director Whalen indicated that CPD hired a UCPD officer recently, has not affected working relationship between departments. 
• Q: How will UC sponsor security officers to become police officers? 
• A: Two Security Officers will graduate from police academy and prepare for state testing to become Police Officers within the next couple of months. 
• Q: How can we balance the recent negative coverage of UCPD with its positives? 
• A: Need to resume pushing the positive aspects of the UCPD, as done prior to the shooting of Samuel Dubose. Also discussed feedback from community for the need for the talented men and women of UCPD to get back out into the community. 
• Judge West welcomed students to continue to attend CAC meetings, however noted that CAC is a working council and asked students to present all questions and concerns to the CAC student representatives for future discussions to the CAC. 
  

Director Greg Baker

• UCPD is working to reestablish positive image, and to build relationships with community. 
• This will involve creating better lines of communication between community and UCPD. 
• Part of this effort includes community outreach forums, such as the Community Breakfast Forum hosted at UC on December 8th, which promote continued community updates and input. 
  

• Tuesday, January 26, 2016 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in 320 University Pavilion 
• Tuesday, February 23, 2016 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in 320 University Pavilion