Sec. 2-371. Screening committee for recommendations of appointment to monitor position.
(a) The citizen's oversight board shall identify a screening committee within sixty (60) days of any vacancy in the director of the office of the independent monitor. For vacancies arising after January 1, 2022, The screening committee shall consist of the following seven (7) persons:
(1) The chairperson of the board, who shall be the chairperson of the screening committee;
(2) A member of city council as selected by the city council president;
(3) A representative appointed by the mayor;
(4) A current or retired judge as selected by the citizen's oversight board;
(5) The office of human resources executive director;
(6) A person with extensive knowledge of internal police investigations or the monitoring of internal police investigations but who has never been employed by the Denver police, sheriff, or fire departments as selected by the citizen's oversight board; and
(7) A community representative who was personally, previously justice-involved, as selected by the citizen's oversight board.
(b) The screening committee shall forward to the citizen oversight board the names of up to three (3) candidates, who will then participate in a community process.
(c) Within thirty (30) days of the completion of the community process, the citizen oversight board shall nominate for appointment from the list of names submitted by the screening committee, unless the citizen oversight board decides not to nominate any of those candidates, in which case the mayor citizen oversight board shall request the screening committee to provide additional names, who will then be vetted through a community process until a proposed nominee is selected for appointment. The citizen's oversight board by affirmative vote of a majority of all the authorized membership shall nominate a candidate for appointment to the director of the office of independent monitor. Such appointment shall be subject to the consent of council acting by resolution.
(d) Neither the monitor nor any employees of the monitor's office shall have formerly been employees of the Denver police, sheriff, or fire departments.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 661-12, § 2, 12-26-12; Ord. No. 882-21, §§ 1, 2, 8-16-21)
Sec. 2-376. Confidentiality.
(a) The monitor, its staff, the board, and all consultants and experts hired by the monitor shall treat all documents and information regarding specific investigations or officers as confidential except to the extent needed to carry out their duties.
(b) The monitor's office shall not discuss with any person or group, including the members of the board, the status of any criminal investigation, other than the fact that a criminal investigation has not been completed and any anticipated date by which a criminal investigation may be completed.
(c) The monitor's office, the board, and all persons who participate in the department of safety, police, sheriff, or fire department's investigative and disciplinary processes are part of the city's deliberative process regarding investigative and disciplinary procedures for personnel. Furthermore, all deliberations and recommendations learned by any of those persons or groups during the exercise of their duties shall be protected by the deliberative process privilege. For purposes of this subsection (c), "deliberative process privilege" has the same meaning as under Colorado law.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 4, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-378. Nomination committee, appointment and qualification of board members.
(a) The citizen oversight board shall consist of nine (9) members who shall be residents of the City and County of Denver.
(b) The mayor shall appoint four (4) members, the city council shall appoint four (4) members, and one (1) member shall be appointed jointly by the mayor and city council. Each appointment will be made alternately first by the city council and then by the mayor for eight consecutive appointments and made jointly by the mayor and city council for the ninth appointment.
(c) All appointments regardless of who makes the appointment must be selected from a list of at least three (3) nominees per vacancy submitted by a nomination committee.
1. The nomination committee shall be composed of three (3) members with one (1) member appointed by the mayor, one (1) member appointed by the council and one (1) member appointed jointly by the mayor and city council, each serving a term of four (4) years and shall meet only whenever a vacancy under this section occurs. Officers, employees and officials of the city shall not be eligible for appointment to or service on the nomination committee. Members of the nomination committee shall not receive any salary or compensation for their services.
2. The nomination committee shall issue a public vacancy notice and call for applications for any resignation, removal or non-reappointment no later than fifteen (15) days after the vacancy occurs. The nomination committee may issue a public vacancy notice upon the receipt of notice of the resignation, non-reappointment or removal of any board member under subsection section 2-380 below without waiting for the effective date of such notice. The nomination committee shall share all public vacancy notices with the citizen oversight board.
3. The nomination committee shall review applications and conduct screening interviews as it deems necessary. The nomination committee shall seek input from the citizen oversight board to address the qualifications required by this section. The nomination committee shall certify a list of at least three (3) nominees for each appointment no later than thirty (30) days after the public application period has closed. If the nomination committee receives fewer than three (3) applications, the committee must submit the names of all applicants. The appointing authority may reject a list for any reason and request a new one. The appointing authority must make an appointment within forty-five (45) days after receiving the certified list of nominees.
4. Whenever an incumbent member of the citizen oversight board wishes to apply for reappointment to another term on the board, the member shall so advise the nomination committee in writing at least ninety (90) days in advance of the expiration of the member's current term. The nomination committee shall then proceed to interview the member and determine whether or not to recommend reappointment to the board for another term. If the nomination committee determines that the incumbent should not be reappointed, the committee shall proceed to issue a public vacancy notice for the seat as provided in paragraph 2 above of this subsection. If the nomination committee determines to recommend reappointment of the incumbent for another term, the committee shall forward the recommendation to the incumbent's appointing authority. If the appointing authority decides not to reappoint the incumbent, then the committee shall proceed to issue a public vacancy notice for the seat as provided in paragraph 2 above of this subsection.
(d) No officer or employee of the City and County of Denver shall be appointed to the board.
(e) Neither the members of the board nor any of their immediate family members (defined as husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, step-son, step-daughter, step-mother, step-father, grandmother, grandfather, brother, sister, domestic partner, and in-laws) shall have ever been employed by the Denver police, sheriff, or fire departments.
(f) The members of the board shall reflect the diversity of Denver, including the ethnic, racial, and geographic constitution of the population as well as the diverse professional backgrounds, experience, and expertise of the citizens of Denver.
(g) The members of the board shall receive compensation in an amount not to exceed one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200.00) per year and be paid necessary expenses incurred in connection with the work of the board.
(h) The members of the board shall participate in an appropriate training program to be established by the board and/or the monitor's office so that they shall possess the applicable knowledge to perform their duties.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 5, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-379. Terms and vacancies.
(a) The term of each member of the board shall be four (4) years.
(b) Any vacancy occurring during the term of any member shall be filled by the process set forth in Section 2-378 above. If a member is appointed to fill an unexpired term, that member's term shall end at the same time as the term of the person being replaced.
(c)
(1) As of the effective date of this Act, the seven (7) members who are currently serving on the citizen oversight board shall continue to serve the remaining portion of their respective terms. The two (2) new members who will be appointed in accordance with and after the effective date of this Act shall be appointed to serve an initial term of three (3) years. Except as stated in subsection (2) below, after the initial term of three (3) years, the succeeding terms shall be for four (4) years.
(2) Of the four (4) members who are currently serving on the citizen oversight board whose terms expire in 2020, the appointing authorities shall determine by lot one (1) of the four (4) new terms, for which the next appointment shall be for a term of three (3) years, rather than a term of four (4) years. After that initial term of three (3) years, the succeeding terms shall be for four (4) years.
(d) Each member shall continue to serve in such capacity until the member's successor has been duly appointed and is acting, provided, however, that that period shall not exceed ninety (90) days past the expiration of the member's term.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 6, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-380. Removal from board.
(a) The unexcused absence of a member of the board from four (4) regularly scheduled meetings shall constitute a resignation from the board. Vacancies shall be filled by the process set forth in Section 2-378.
(b) Before the expiration of his or her appointed term, a member appointed by the mayor to the board may be removed from the board by the mayor, a member appointed by city council may be removed by the city council, and a member appointed by the mayor and city council may be removed by the mayor and city council. Removal of a member can only be for cause including gross misconduct, incompetence, a persistent failure to perform his or her duties on the board or if, subsequent to being selected as a member of the board, information becomes known to the appointing authority that, had it been known when the member was selected, the information would have disqualified him or her from being selected.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 7, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-381. Officers.
The board shall annually elect from among its members a chairperson and a vice-chairperson, who shall serve in such capacities until their successors are duly elected. In case of a vacancy in either of these positions, the board shall elect a successor who shall serve the unexpired balance of the predecessor's term.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04)
Sec. 2-382. Meetings of the citizen oversight board.
(a) The board shall conduct at least three (3) meetings annually for public comment, including a meeting to be held not later than thirty (30) calendar days after the issuance of the board's annual report and shall from time to time meet with citizens' groups to learn of citizens' concerns and to inform the citizens of relevant information regarding the activities of police, sheriff, and fire departments, the monitor's office, and the board.
(b) The board shall meet at least bi-monthly with the monitor.
(c) The board shall meet at least quarterly in public with the manager of safety, the chief of police, and the undersheriff and shall meet with any other city personnel on an as-needed basis to discuss any issues of concern and to make recommendations for ways that the police, sheriff, and fire departments can improve their relationships with the citizens and recommendations regarding policies, rules, hiring, training, and the complaint process.
(d) The board shall fix the time and place of its meetings.
(e) The board shall maintain records of its meetings, which records shall be available to the public.
(f) All public meetings of said board shall be subject to the provisions of article III of chapter 2 of the Revised Municipal Code dealing with open meetings.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04)
Sec. 2-383. Interaction between the monitor's office and the citizen oversight board.
(a) The monitor's office shall inform the board of the status of the department of safety, police, sheriff, and fire department investigations and disciplinary proceedings and the actions of the monitor's office in monitoring those investigations and disciplinary proceedings.
(b) The board shall establish both qualitative and quantitative criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the monitor.
(c) In order to determine whether the monitor's office is effectively monitoring the department of safety, police, sheriff, and fire investigations, the board shall receive regular reports from the monitor's office and shall be allowed to review pertinent portions of the personnel files of uniformed personnel and IAB files including statements of uniformed personnel and to make recommendations to the manager of safety, chief of police, sheriff, fire chief, and monitor's office regarding investigations, determinations as to whether department rules or policies have been violated, and the appropriateness of disciplinary sanctions, if any. However, the board shall not become the custodian of any such records and the board shall not be allowed access to documents protected by the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product privilege.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 8, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-384. Reports of the citizen oversight board.
(a) The board shall furnish an annual public report to the mayor and city council regarding the board's assessment of the work of the monitor's office; the board's activities during the preceding year; concerns expressed by citizens; the board's assessment of the department of safety, police, sheriff, and fire department investigative and disciplinary processes; recommendations for ways that those four (4) departments can improve their relationships with the citizens; and recommendations for changes to police, sheriff, and fire department policies, rules, hiring, training, and the complaint process.
(b) The board's annual report shall be furnished concurrently with the monitor's annual report to the mayor and city council.
(c) In addition to the annual report, the board may furnish additional reports, which shall be available to the public and which shall include, among other things, patterns relating to complaints and recommendations regarding the sufficiency of investigations, determinations as to whether department rules and policies have been violated, and the appropriateness of disciplinary sanctions, if any.
(d) The board shall have the ability to hire consultants to assist in assessing the effectiveness of the monitor's office and in preparing the board's annual report and any other reports.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 9, 2-19-19)
Sec. 2-385. Rules.
The board shall publish and make available to the public such procedural rules as it may adopt for the conduct of its business.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04)
Sec. 2-386. Citizen complaints.
(a) In addition to availing themselves of any citizen complaint mechanisms that are provided by the department of safety, police department, or sheriff department, citizens may file complaints of alleged misconduct by uniformed personnel with the board or the monitor's office.
(b) Whenever a citizen files a complaint with the monitor's office, the board, the department of safety, or the police or sheriff departments, the agency receiving the complaint shall, within three (3) business days, advise all of the other agencies (the board; the monitor's office; the manager of safety; and, when received by the board or the monitor's office, either the police department or sheriff department) that it has received the complaint and provide a copy of the complaint to each of them.
(Ord. No. 730-04, § 1, 10-4-04; Ord. No. 29-19, § 10, 2-19-19)