Marion equity group discusses police citizen review board

MARION — The Marion Community Equity Task Force is trying to figure out how to approach equitable policing.

During the task force’s Thursday night meeting, members discussed the possibility of the city creating a Citizen Review Board to review police actions, but no final direction was made.

The task force was established in August 2020 by the Marion City Council with input from the Marion Alliance for Racial Equity. It is made up of city officials, alliance members and other members of the community.

Some of the alliance’s proposals include embedding a mental health liaison in the Marion Police Department, which is now in place, and to address profiling and equitable policing. An initial demand from the group included establishing a citizen police review board.

Circe Stumbo, an alliance and task force member, advocated Thursday for an independent review board that could handle citizen complaints and provide long-term accountability for the police department.

The alliance, she said, “is interested in eliminating any disproportionality in traffic stops and creating a citizen review board and changing policy practices among all city staff to ensure that we are able to overcome the kinds of systemic challenges we face across the nation.

“People of color experience Marion differently than white people,” she said. “We have to acknowledge that.”

Tom Newkirk, a Des Moines attorney and consultant for the task force, said no events or data in Marion justify a citizen review board, noting no shootings or physical abuse cases involving police have been reported.

“A better version available than a citizen review board is micro-level accountability,” Newkirk said. “It ensures collection and accountability in the evaluation of data. It can alter the behavior.

“You have methods of speaking to a group and training a group that opens them to change, holding police accountable and not talking down to them.”

Newkirk recommended a plan that makes “partners of police”; ensures the public is aware of the ability to review police body camera footage and data; and provides training for police officers.

Newkirk said he interviewed 20 officers and staff in the Marion Police Department earlier this month. Based on those interviews, the department has no official or unofficial racial profiling policy when it comes to traffic stops.

Task force member Maxwell Grant said regardless of the route the task force decides to take, the outcome needs to be transparent and accountable.

“If the community sees what any training means, if you can show the results and see people actually being held accountable to any training, that’s key,” Grant said.

Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller said he wants to “come out” of the task force with something that ensures Marion police officers are treating all residents and city visitors equally.

“I think ultimately I sleep better at night being assured that we’re treating everyone the same,” he said.

In May 2020, Kitsmiller told the City Council he didn’t see the need for a citizen review board but would consider it if there was significant demand from residents.

Lon Pluckhahn, Marion’s longtime city manager who resigned this month for a job in Washington state, previously said there was “definitely interest” from the city’s Civil Rights Commission in creating a review board that has a clear mission and “contributes to making things better.”

Kitsmiller said during the meeting that citizens with complaints have gone through city council members, and the complaints ultimately end up with him. He asked what a citizen review board could do that council members can’t.

Amal Eltahir, an assistant to the city manager, said any community member can demand information from the police department.

“The bodycam is there in itself, doing all the work in terms of accountability,” she said. “It informs the officer they are being watched and held accountable.”

Eltahir said that if someone is being “impacted” by an officer, he or she can bring forward concerns at city council meetings or file a complaint with the city’s Civil Rights Commission.

“We have two avenues,” she said. “All of the citizens have a higher power.”

Stumbo, though, said city council members already have “a lot on their shoulders.”

“A review board should look at data, policies and procedures and how people are experiencing Marion,” she said. “It’s the outcome that Chief Kitsmiller wants: that everyone is treated equally. The key thing is to make sure citizens have someone to go to with concerns and know something will be done.”

Alliance member Joshua Milam said a citizen review board “could be a great option. It has a lot of room to be adjusted, but it hasn't even been considered. But do you want to have it and be prepared or not be prepared when something comes?”

Ultimately, no decision was made, and discussion will continue at the Sept. 16 task force meeting.

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