Police Citizen Review Subcommittee

Regular Meeting

Portland, ME · May 14, 2025

Minutes

APPROVED MINUTES POLICE CITIZEN REVIEW SUBCOMMITTEE May 14, 2025 Meeting Held Remotely via Zoom Members present: Kaylin Kerina, Chair; Joey Brunelle, Vice-Chair; Rachel Schlein; Keith Bidwell (left meeting at 8:28); Xavier Botana, and Randall Kilty (joined at 6:08) Members absent: Walter Bihumugani Staff present: Associate Corporation Counsel Rachel Millette; Chief Mark Dubois; Major Dan Hondo; Lieutenant Jacob Titcomb; and Tracy Boyd. 6:03 Call to order. Motion was made by Joey and seconded by Keith to approve the April 9, 2025 meeting minutes. Passage 4-0, with one abstention, Xavier. PCRS introduction letter to complainants. Joey explained the revisions to the letter. Kay suggested that the subcommittee discuss the process and logistics with PD in regards to adding the date of the case review to the letter. Xavier will look into what other similar groups are doing through NACOLE. Joey suggested approving the letter as written and possibly adding the review date into the letter at a later time. Motion was made by Xavier and seconded by Joey to adopt the letter. Passage 6-0. Training opportunities & NACOLE discussion. Kay did not have an opportunity to meet with the City Manager regarding a potential budget to attend NACOLE and other trainings. Joey volunteered to review training opportunities and Kay will connect with the City Manager. Randall volunteered to review NACOLE sessions that might be of interest to the subcommittee. Rachel S. shared PPD training opportunities. 2024 Annual Report update. Joey and Xavier met and divided up the preparation of the Annual report. Joey is drafting the written portion and Xavier is working with the data portion of the report. The draft Annual Report will be emailed to each member by May 21st, it will be color-coded to indicate whether Joey or Xavier drafted a particular section. Member comments can be sent to either Joey or Xavier and those comments are due at least a week before the June 11th meeting which is June 4th. Update on the new Civil Police Review Board ordinance & discussion of letter to City Council regarding the same. When Rachel M. has a final date for the City Council review of the ordinance she will email it to the subcommittee members. Kay offered to draft a letter to the City Council. PCRS email discussion. An auto-response was added to the PCRS email. No public comment was offered. Overview of IA case presentation and review. Kay shared suggested guidelines for evaluating IA investigation and explained each of the four criteria. 7:22 Motion was made to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 1 M.R.S. Sec. 405(6)(F) to discuss IA2025-004 by Randall and seconded by Keith. Xavier explained that he was not prepared to present the IA case assigned to him. Passage 6-0. 8:20 Out of Executive Session. Motion was made by Xavier to find that IA2025-004 was timely; seconded by Keith. Passage: 5-1, Joey voted no, IA2025-004 was found to be timely. Motion was made by Keith to find that IA2025-004 was thorough; seconded by Rachel S. Passage: 6-0, IA2025-004 was found to be thorough. Motion was made by Randall to find that IA2025-004 was fair; seconded by Rachel S. Passage: 4-2, Joey and Xavier voted no, IA2025-004 was found to be fair. Motion was made by Keith to find that IA2025-004 was objective; seconded by Rachel S. Passage: 4-2, Joey and Xavier voted no, IA2025-004 was found to be objective. Topics for next month’s meeting agenda. There was discussion around adding a meeting to June in order to address the remaining cases (of which there are four) in addition to reviewing the letter to the City Council and reviewing and approving the Annual report. Rachel M. suggested that Kay, herself, and Lt. Titcomb communicate via email around a second possible date. Rachel S. would like to discuss policies and procedures around communicating with PD and developing a policy around new subcommittee member orientation sometime at a future meeting. 8:38 Motion was made by Joey and seconded by Xavier to adjourn. Passage 5-0.

Agenda

Packet

City of Portland Police Citizen Review Subcommittee AGENDA May 14, 2025 6:00 PM 1. Zoom information aOn Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 6:00 p.m., the Police Citizen Review Subcommittee will conduct a virtual . meeting. This meeting will take place remotely using Zoom. This meeting will be held remotely pursuant to the Remote Meeting Policy adopted by the Police Citizen Review Subcommittee and as authorized under 1 M.R.S. 403-B . Allow your computer to install the free Zoom app to get the best meeting experience. If you are not able to attend live, a recording will be available following the meeting. For public comment, you will need to use the "raise your hand" feature. To raise your hand via the telephone, please hit *9. You will be unmuted by the host when it is time for public comment. You are invited to a Zoom webinar! When: May 14, 2025 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Every month on the Second Wed, 4 occurrence(s) May 14, 2025 06:00 PM Jun 11, 2025 06:00 PM Jul 9, 2025 06:00 PM Aug 13, 2025 06:00 PM Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system. Monthly: https://portlandmaine- gov.zoom.us/webinar/tZUkcO6upjMiH9KOnzMWTxmSa6QQPLb_djzw/ics?icsToken=DEFxJnM9azQyD UYsMQAALAAAABgjVsQ5Igkoi2bfiNTAYNNzht8VnnukFMMxt5rXCyn6_IdxeNwyXkX3EHrKDDrfU bSeKMRpww_BX3k0ejAwMDAwMQ Topic: Police Citizen Review Subcommittee Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://portlandmaine-gov.zoom.us/j/81977688856?pwd=RYXb2BQoYVpOzxtaWTxzVOKb5QFFV5.1 Passcode:304710 Phone one-tap: +13092053325,,81977688856# US +13126266799,,81977688856# US (Chicago) 2. Call to Order Page 1 3. Approval of the April 9, 2025 minutes a. Attachment 4. PCRS introduction letter to complainants a. Attachment 5. Training opportunities & NACOLE discussion a. Attachment 6. 2024 Annual Report update or tentative draft Update on the new Civil Police Review Board ordinance & discussion of letter to City 7. Council regarding the same 8. Discussion of PCRS email address 9. Public comment on agenda items 10. Overview of IA case presentation and review Executive session pursuant to 1 M.R.S. Sec. 405(6)(F) to discuss IA2025-002 & IA2025- 11. 004 IA2025-002 presented by Xavier & IA2025-004 presented by Joey 12. Topics for next month’s meeting 13. Adjourn Page 2 MINUTES POLICE CITIZEN REVIEW SUBCOMMITTEE April 9, 2025 Meeting Held Remotely via Zoom Members present: Keith Bidwell, Interim Chair; Rachel Schlein; Joey Brunelle; Kaylin Kerina; Walter Bihumugani; and Randall Kilty. Members absent: Xavier Botana Staff present: Associate Corporation Counsel Avery Dandreta; and Tracy Boyd. 6:05 Call to order. Introductions. Election of Chair and Vice Chair. Joey nominated Kay for Chair, Keith seconded. Kay accepted the nomination. Passage 6- 0. Kay nominated Joey as Vice Chair, Keith seconded. Passage 6-0. Motion was made by Joey and seconded by Keith to approve the March 12, 2025 meeting minutes. Passage 3-0. Complainant Letter. Joey suggested two edits to the letter and also shared a suggestion that Xavier would like the date of PCRS review of the IA investigation included in the letter. Kay suggested that Joey look at NACOLE1 resources to research best practices around including the date of review in the letter and as a basis for possibly creating SOPS for the subcommittee in the future. Motion was made by Joey and seconded by Randall to adopt the letter pending two changes. Passage 6-0. Training opportunities. Kay will have a list of training opportunities ready for the next meeting and also spoke about the upcoming NACOLE conference (which will be held in October). Kay suggested that it may serve as an opportunity to have a committee member either present on the subcommittee’s successes, or, attend the conference, either in person or virtually. Kay will send the link for everyone to explore the site. Kay also offered to look into funding from the City Manager’s office. Rachel expressed interest in attending. Randall suggested follow-up learning if someone presents. Kay agreed and also suggested that attendees share what they learned with the entire subcommittee. 2024 Annual Report. Joey has reviewed the template and he and Xavier will be meeting next week. Joey is waiting on the data from Rachel. It is possible that they will have a draft ready for the next meeting. 1 NACOLE is the acronym for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. Page 3 New ordinance update. Avery shared that the City Council will hold a public workshop on this topic on June 30. Everyone can attend in their individual capacity. PCRS email discussion. Joey asked if the PCRS email could be forwarded directly to the members of the group eliminating the Corporation Counsel intermediaries. Randall offered to help develop committee SOPs. Keith suggested adding an auto reply to the PCRS email. Joey offered to follow up with Rachel regarding this idea. No public comment was offered. Topics for next month’s meeting agenda. ● PCRS introductory letter review ● Training opportunities ● Annual report update or tentative draft ● NACOLE discussion ● Drafting a letter to the City Council re: new ordinance ● Possible case 7:02 Motion was made by Keith and seconded by Walter to adjourn. Passage 6-0. Page 4 Subject: Notification of Case Review by the Police Citizen Review Subcommittee Dear [Complainant's Name], I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to inform you that the Portland Police Department Internal Affairs investigation into your complaint against the PPD has been referred to the Police Citizen Review Subcommittee (“PCRS”) for review. The PCRS is an independent body of city residents dedicated to promoting accountability, fairness, and transparency in the review of police investigations into citizen complaints. The PCRS’s duties include: ● Reviewing the process of police investigations of citizen complaints to ensure they are thorough, objective, fair, and timely. ● Reporting to the City Manager on the results of its reviews. ● Offering recommendations for improving police investigation processes, policies, and training, and enhancing public confidence in the complaint investigation system. ● Holding public hearings to receive community input on the police citizen complaint process. If you would like to learn more about the PCRS, visit our webpage at this URL, or scan this QR code with your smartphone: https://www.portlandmaine.gov/698/Police-Citizen-Review-Subcommittee The PCRS will conduct a comprehensive review of the Internal Affairs investigation into your case, [IA2025-XXX] and follow up with you once their review is complete. Additionally, as part of its commitment to transparency, the PCRS holds monthly public meetings to discuss relevant matters. You are welcome to attend these meetings. Details about upcoming meetings, including dates, times, agenda items, and locations, are posted on the City of Portland website at https://www.portlandmaine.gov/602/Agendas-Minutes If you have any immediate questions or require assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our email address is pcrs@portlandmaine.gov Sincerely, [Signer’s Name], [Signer’s Title] Page 5 Training Opportunities at Portland PD for PCRS Members 1. Criminal Procedures: An overview of what police officers can and can’t do legally, to include search and seizure, rules of arrest, and the basics of criminal law. 2. The IA Process: An overview of Portland PD’s IA process, including how internal and external complaints are processed, given by Lt. Titcomb. 3. Virtual Reality Training: An interactive training, where the participant is in the role of police officer, based on real-life calls for service, with an emphasis on de-escalation. 4. The Behavioral Health Unit: An opportunity to meet with Portland PD’s Behavioral Health Unit, to learn about their processes, including alternative response. 5. Ride Alongs: An opportunity to spend time with an on-duty Portland PD officer to observe and discuss their profession. Major Hondo can facilitate scheduling these. Page 6