Iowa City's Police Citizens Review Board looking to change name

Members of Iowa City's Police Citizens Review Board said they will make a recommendation to the City Council to change the group's name to make its powers and purpose more clear.

Four of the five members who comprise the board based on City Council appointments to four-year terms agreed Wednesday during its annual community forum to make the name change suggestion to the City Council.

Joseph Treloar, vice chairman of the group, suggested changing the name to the Citizens Police Review Board. Chairman Donald King suggested changing the perception of the board by changing the name to something more inclusive like Community Police Review Board.

The group made a motion to change the name after several community members asked the board why it has taken them so long to do anything with repeated suggestions to change the board's name.

Janie Braverman, a former board member, said the group had agreed two years ago – when she served – to change the board's name to make its purpose more clear.

Braverman and Iowa City resident Carrie Z. Norton asked the board whether, in addition to the name change, they think a change to the structure of the group is necessary.

“Are you frustrated with the structure?” Norton said. “Do you think it's serving the purpose that the review board was established for?”

Treloar said he wishes the board could look with more detail into community issues and concerns with the police department.

“Sometimes that's frustrating,” he said, adding that at least Iowa City has a board.

King said he hopes to change the perception of the board more than the structure of the group, which was created in 1997 to “assure external accountability of the Iowa City Police Department.” The group's duties, in part, include reviewing department investigations into allegations of misconduct lodged against police officers and conducting further investigation of complaints when the board deems necessary.

“The perception by the public of what we can and can't do might be more of a problem,” he said.

But board member Royceann Porter said she is very frustrated with the way the board is set up, calling it a way of “shutting up the community” after an Iowa City officer in 1996 mistakenly shot and killed Eric Shaw, a 31-year-old artist.

“I feel like we can't do anything,” Porter said. “In 1997, rules were made because of something that happened.”

Porter, who said she personally filed a complaint with the review board, argued that the name change won't do much to resolve concerns with the group.

“Name change or no name change, it's not about the name change,” she said. “More needs to be done than just a name change.”

Porter suggested the board needs to look into why only six complaints have been sustained out of 80 total complaints involving 177 allegations since 1997.

“When we met last week, we talked about what we as a board can do, and personally, we can't do nothing,” she said. “We can give recommendations to the City Council, but no one has any recommendations to give because they're okay with what's going on.”