2.427 Police Advisory Committee
To achieve and meet community expectations, the Medford Police Departments strives to continuously evaluate and improve its quality of public safety services in partnership with the community. The purpose of the Police Advisory Committee is to assist the Police Department in exploring solutions to community issues and to serve as a forum for community members to receive and provide information and feedback regarding local law enforcement services.
1. Police Advisory Committee Created.
(1) The Police Advisory Committee shall consist of the following 11 members: one member from each ward (4); one (1) member representing the 549 School District; one (1) member representing the minority community; one (1) member representing the faith based community; one (1) member representing the business community; the Chief of Police; the Deputy Police Chief of Operations, and the Deputy Police Chief of the Support Bureau. All members shall be appointed to serve three-year staggered terms.
(2) All members shall meet the following qualifications: be a law abiding citizen with no felony convictions or convictions involving crimes of moral turpitude, be willing to commit to three years of services, be willing to serve as an advocate for the police department’s outreach efforts and be willing to serve as an advocate on behalf of the community.
(3) The following process will be used to select citizen members:
(a) Applications submitted to the Police Department.
(b) Criminal history background check completed.
(c) Candidates invited to an interview with the Chief, assigned councilmember and invited committee members.
(d) Candidates recommended for selection are forwarded to the City Council for approval.
(4) The Police Advisory Committee shall be co-chaired by the Chief of Police and a committee member selected by the citizen members.
(5) The Committee shall meet quarterly, in January, April, July and October each year. Members of the Police Advisory Committee shall attend all meetings unless excused by the committee co-chairs.
2. Powers and Duties of Police Advisory Committee.
(1) The powers and duties of the police advisory committee shall be as follows:
(a) Meet at least once each quarter, or by calling a special meeting, if needed.
(b) Review all comment cards.
(c) Review any departmental procedures that have resulted in repeated complaints and make recommendations to the Chief of Police regarding any potential policy changes.
(d) Compile and forward to the City Council an annual written report by January 30th. The report shall include data concerning the status of matters reported on, comment cards, written complaints, use of force and all activities the Police Advisory Committee participated in. The report shall be in a form prescribed by the City Council. The purpose of the report shall be to summarize Police Advisory Committee activities, and not to provide policy recommendations directly to City Council.
(e) Provide a venue for citizens to interact with the Police Advisory Committee and the Police Department, with the aim of providing general advice to the Department regarding policies and overall activities of the Department.
(f) Provide recommendations to the Chief of Police on community issues brought before the committee.
(g) Serves as an engagement and and involvement body for the Police Department on issues suggested by committee members and/or the Chief of Police.
(h) Assists the Department in identifying short and long range goals.
(i) Serves as an advocate for the community to the Police Department and as an advocate for the Police Department to the community.
(2) The Committee is not empowered to investigate complaints on its own. The Committee shall neither participate in nor interfere with any internal investigation process of the Police Department. The Committee shall neither summon witnesses nor review documents exempt from public disclosure that involves an internal affairs investigation. To enable the Committee to perform its functions, the Chief of Police shall provide the Committee with a copy of each complaint and a report as to the disposition of the complaint.
[Added Ord. No. 8341, Apr. 17, 1997; Amd. Ord. No. 8390, June 19, 1997; Amd. Ord. No. 1998-02, Jan. 8, 1998; Amd. Ord. No. 1998-53, March 19, 1998; Amd. Ord. No. 2004-216, Nov. 4, 2004; Replaced, Ord. No. 2010-82, Apr. 15, 2010; Amd. Sec. 2, Ord. No. 2012-157, Oct. 4, 2012; Amd. Sec. 1, Ord. No. 2013-003, Jan. 3, 2013; Amd. Sec. 1, Ord. No. 2018-119, Oct. 18, 2018.]