Police Review and Recommend Committee
Police Review & Recommend Committee
City Council reviewed numerous applications, conducted interviews, and in June 2023 appointed seven members to the Police Review and Recommend Committee. This Committee will provide independent oversight of police complaints, investigations, and policy reforms. Members will undergo training and meet as-needed to review issues, plus hold a minimum of two annual public meetings to review and make recommendations on policy, trends, complaints, reports and progress on meeting reform goals. More details on how this Committee will operate are provided in Ordinance 1741.
The City of West Linn takes complaints of employee misconduct very seriously. An online reporting tool is available for your convenience if you need to make a complaint about a police officer or other City employee. This complaint tracking system is hosted by a third-party complaint hotline provider, EthicsPoint. All complaints are initially routed to the City Manager and Human Resources. If the complaint is about either of those people, the complaint is routed to the City's employment attorney office.
Background
City Council convened an initial Task Force to make recommendations on how best to provide community involvement in police oversight. The Police Oversight and Accountability Task Force was comprised of various stakeholders, experts, and concerned citizens. The group evaluated past practices, policies, and procedures of the West Linn Police Department and provided recommendations to Council on creation of a structured entity to serve as an ongoing independent oversight entity for the West Linn Police Department.
Corrupt practices and discriminatory behavior have no place in West Linn. Understanding our City’s past and current practices and the various needs for reform is complex and requires informed discussions from many perspectives. The goal is to continually dismantle systems of racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance, homophobia, transphobia, gender discrimination, or any other form of bias from our city and Police Department.
Council appointed 11 members to this Task Force on July 20, 2020: Kristina Garcia Siegel, Nicole Dawson, Sharron Furno, Sonia Borgelt, Autumn Mercado, Debbie Wong, Linda Hamel, Lonnie Webb, Michael Harper, Nancy Noye, and Rishi Bansal. Four alternate members were appointed by Council on August 3, 2020: Fred Groves, Evan Wickersham, Surja Tjahaja, and Timothy Mullins. We had a large number of applications for this Task Force, illustrating our community’s strong support and interest in this critical topic.
In 2020 and 2021 the Task Force recommended to Council a set of policies and procedures (proposals available below) which included concepts for a permanent oversight entity. Using the recommendations from the Task Force and the OIR Group’s December 2020 report as a guide, staff worked with legal counsel to draft a structure for a “Review and Recommend Committee” which included terms, training, the roles and responsibilities of the group and a proposed complaint oversight structure. The Review and Recommend structure was designed to allow community members appointed by Council to participate in staff and attorney discussions of complaints, investigations, and disciplinary actions, and to report back to the Council and community on the City’s actions. Committee members would also have a role in reviewing and making recommendations on police policy, trends in data, and reports. The City’s legal counsel drafted a proposal to amend the West Linn Municipal Code to formally implement a new Review and Recommend Committee, Council discussed the drafts at Work Sessions in March 2022, July 2022 and November 2022.
At their December 5, 2022 meeting Council formally adopted Ordinance 1741, formally creating a long term Police Review and Recommend Committee to provide independent oversight of police complaints and investigations, as well as provide input on police policy and reforms.
Commitee Membership:
Mary Carlson
Michael Harper
Steve Kraemer
Keisha Omlid
Michael Selvaggio
Sara Werboff
Joy Mutare
You may send comments to the Committee via email at pdreviewcommittee@westlinnoregon.gov
Your comments are forwarded to the Committee members, but you may not receive a response back. The Committee will consider your feedback at their next meeting.
