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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021_03_08 Racial Equity Taskforce Minutes Minutes of the Racial Equity Task Force of the Town of Mamaroneck Held March 8, 2021 at 7:00 pm, via Zoom Present: Jeffery King (Town Council member, Chairman), Sabrina Fiddelman (Town Council member), Helen Horsham-Bertels, Lynne Murphy-Rivera, Andrew Tannenbaum, Gonzalo Zeballos, Steve Altieri (Town Administrator), Paul Creazzo (Chief of Police), Lindsey Luft (Assistant to the Town Administrator) Chairman King called the meeting to order. Open Issues 1. Review Revised Draft Report Police Reform and Reinvention (PRRR) Chairman King gave some background on the Task Force. He explained that we have been meeting since June 2020 and our current task, to complete the report required by Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203, was coming to a close. This evening we will try to finalize input from the Task Force members to that the PRRR so that it can be sent to the Town Board for comments. The PRRR must be approved by the Town Board and certified by the Supervisor by April 1, 2021. George Latimer, the County Executive joined our group. He is visiting municipal Police Reform and Reinvention committees such as this one to share what is going on at the County level and to show the County’s support for local efforts. He indicated he would spend about a half hour listening to our discussions. Mr. King asked for input from all members of the Task Force. Mr. Altieri and Chief Creazzo had only received this current draft yesterday, so they have not had sufficient time to digest the report in its entirety. They agreed they will have sufficient time to do so as the Town Board does the same. It was agreed that Section X, Follow Up Recommendations, would be removed from the PRRR as they are actions that the Task Force would like to discuss internally and perhaps continue to work on after the PRRR has been finalized. They are not directly relevant to this report. We further refined the wording of several recommendations in Section I, Community Policing, and Section VI, Review of Complaint Procedures. The Task Force discussed including specific survey comments and whether or not they should be included in the appendix to the final report. It was agreed that they should not be as we wish to protect the privacy of survey respondents as stated in the preface to the survey. We discussed why the demographics of the Police Department were eliminated from the draft report. It was determined by the Task Force that while the demographics fairly closely mirror the demographics of the community, that information is not immediately relevant to the report. The purpose of the report is not to commend or criticize the Police Department but to identify ways to improve it. We have noted both in the preface to the PRRR, and on several occasions throughout our discussions, that the Town of Mamaroneck Police Department is held in quite high regard by the community. The Task Force agreed to accept the PRRR with the changes made this evening, and after another round of proof reading and have it sent to the Town Board for its review. nd 2. Set Date for 2 Public Hearing We agreed to the following calendar which will allow the Town to meet the Governor’s deadline for certification of this report. Wednesday, March 10 – Town Administrator to forward Police Reform and Reinvention Report (PRRR) to Town Board for review. Monday, March 15 – Meeting of the Task Force to plan presentation of PRRR to Town Board. Wednesday, March 17 – Presentation of PRRR by Task Force to Town Board* Tuesday, March 23 – Public Forum to elicit comments on PRRR/Acceptance of PRRR by Town Board Mr. Altieri will alert the Town Board to these dates. We began to discuss how to publicize the availability of the PRRR to the public. We will use robocalls, email blasts, the Town’s Facebook page and the Town’s website. Report of Minutes The Task Force accepted the minutes of its February 8 and March 1 meetings. The next meeting of the Task Force will be Monday, March 15 at 7:00pm via Zoom. Chairman King adjourned the meeting. *This meeting was subsequently rescheduled for Tuesday, March 16.