AN ORDINANCE TO CREATE A NEW CHAPTER 37 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY ENTITLED “CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD”

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs, NY, as follows:

SECTION 1: A new Chapter 37 of the Code of the City of Saratoga Springs, entitled
“Civilian Review Board,” is hereby enacted to read:

CHAPTER 37

CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD

37-1 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

a) The Saratoga Springs Police Department (the Department) exists to help create and
maintain a safe environment for the citizens of and the visitors to our community. In
order to fulfill that role, the Department must have the trust and respect of the
community. The Civilian Review Board (CRB) is intended as an aid to maintaining
that trust and respect.

b) The trust and confidence of the community in its law enforcement personnel are
essential for the smooth operation of the Department. The members of the
Department, both sworn and civilian, are part of the community. The community as a
whole relies on its trust and confidence in law enforcement as part of the foundation
of a free and secure society. When that trust and confidence is drawn into question or
broken, prompt, appropriate and effective procedures must be available to resolve any
issues that may have arisen.

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 c) Our society entrusts its police departments with extraordinary authority. An encounter
with law enforcement can profoundly impact the life of the person affected, whether
that person is an individual in need of assistance; a victim of or witness to criminality;
or a person accused or suspected of wrongdoing. Members of law enforcement must
accept that their authority is granted to them by the people they serve. Accordingly,
the public is entitled to openness and transparency from the Department as an integral
component of a relationship grounded in mutual trust and respect.

d) A system that facilitates communication between the Department and the people it
serves, especially when grievances arise, is essential for the maintenance of trust and
confidence in the Department by the community. With this in mind, the following is
ordained, established and implemented:

37-2 IMPLEMENTATION

a) There shall be a Civilian Review Board (CRB) whose purpose is to receive, process
and, whenever possible, amicably resolve grievances regarding the conduct of
employees of the Department. The CRB shall also act as a vehicle for generating and
expressing informed opinions relating to public policy regarding law enforcement in
our City. The CRB should represent a fair cross-section of the Saratoga Springs
community with regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, cultural background and socio-
economic background. The members of the CRB shall be individuals of good
character who must, at all times, remain unbiased and impartial regarding matters of
law enforcement in our community so that the work of the CRB will be, and will be
perceived as, even-handed, just, fair and proper by all stakeholders, including by
members of the Department.

b) The CRB shall consist of five (5) Members, one of whom shall be its Chair. No
Member may be employed by the Department in any capacity during his or her tenure

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 on the CRB, and no Member may be an elected official. The Chair must have some
prior experience in adjudicatory proceedings or decision-making and be capable of
presiding over administrative hearings, though the Chair need not be an attorney.
Members must be at least eighteen (18) years of age, must have their primary
residence in Saratoga Springs, and must have resided in Saratoga Springs for at least
one (1) year prior to the date of appointment, with periods of vacation, military
deployment or hospitalization deemed not to constitute interruptions of continuous
residence. At least one (1) Member shall be between the ages of 18 and 25 at the time
of appointment. No one may serve as a Member of the CRB who has been convicted
of a felony within the ten (10) years preceding the submission of an application for
membership; however, a Certificate of Relief issued pursuant to the Executive Law or
a Sealing Order issued pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Law shall remove this
disability. No one may serve as a Member of the CRB who has been convicted of a
crime involving fraud or moral turpitude within the ten (10) years preceding the
submission of an application for membership.

37-3 INITIAL APPOINTMENT OF CRB MEMBERS

a) The Chair of the CRB shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to ratification by at
least two (2) additional City Council members. The Chair shall serve a two (2)-year
term. The mayor shall make the appointment of the CRB Chair first. The remaining
members of the City Council shall then draw lots for the order in which they will each
make one (1) of the remaining appointments. Each appointment shall be subject to
ratification by at least two (2) additional City Council members. If no CRB Member
between the ages of 18 and 25 shall have been appointed by the time of the
appointment of the last CRB Member, the City Council member chosen to make the
final appointment shall appoint an individual between the ages of 18 and 25 to serve
on the CRB.
b) Members of the CRB other than the Chair shall serve staggered three (3)-year terms.
No one may serve on the CRB for more than six (6) years. When the CRB is first
empaneled, the two (2) Members appointed after the Chair shall serve three (3)-year

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 terms; the next Member appointed shall serve an initial two (2)-year term; and the
final Member appointed shall serve an initial one (1)-year term. Vacancies occurring
prior to the expiration of a Member’s term shall be filled for the balance of the
unexpired term by the City Council member presiding over the Department whose
Commissioner appointed the CRB Member whose seat is vacant, subject to
ratification by at least two (2) additional City Council members. Subsequent
appointments and/or re-appointments shall be made by the City Council member
presiding over the Department whose Commissioner shall have appointed the CRB
Member whose term of office shall have expired, subject to ratification by at least
two (2) additional City Council members.

c) The existence of an open position or positions on the CRB shall be announced as an

agenda item at a regularly scheduled City Council meeting. Appointments shall be
made at least thirty (30) days following the date of the City Council meeting at which
the open position was announced. The City Council shall adopt an application form,
to be completed and signed under oath by the applicant, which shall be publicly
posted on the City website and available for public inspection and copying at the
Office of the City Clerk at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the City Council
meeting at which an appointment is scheduled to be made. The Chair and Members of
the CRB shall file an oath of office with the Office of the City Clerk prior to the
commencement of their participation on the CRB.

37-4 REMOVAL

a) The Chair or any Member of the CRB may be removed for cause by a majority vote
of the City Council at a regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council.

b) The proposed removal of a Member of the CRB shall appear as an agenda item, with
the alleged cause for removal stated in the agenda, prior to the meeting at which the
proposed removal is to be considered.

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37-5 FUNDING; TRAINING; ORGANIZATION

a) The Office of the Mayor shall be responsible for providing adequate budget and
training to ensure proper functioning of the CRB.

b) The CRB shall have the authority to create forms and promulgate internal procedural
rules consistent with the City Charter and City Code. Copies of any such forms and
procedural rules shall be made publicly available by posting on the City website.

37-6 PROCEDURE
a) In order for the CRB to properly investigate a complaint, the complaint should be made
as soon as possible, but not more than 90 days after the incident in question. That time
period may be extended for good cause shown.

b) i) Upon receiving a complaint from a resident of the City, the Department shall make a
good faith effort to resolve the issue but shall immediately upon receiving the complaint,
advise the complainant that s/he may, at any time, have the complaint, which shall be
reduced to writing, filed with the CRB. All complaints shall be recorded in the police log
and flagged there in a way to distinguish them from other entries.

ii) Complainants shall be given a form upon which to record their complaint. The form
shall have a check box and shall state that when checked, the complaint shall be
registered with the CRB. Two weeks from the date of the filing of complaints which have
been filed with the CRB, a letter shall be sent to the Complainant asking if the complaint
has been resolved. The letter shall contain a form which, if checked by the Complainant,
shall indicate their desire to actively engage the CRB’s grievance procedure, a copy of
which shall be attached to the form.

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c) Once the CRB has been advised of the desire of the Complainant to actively engage the
CRB, the Department shall conduct an investigation of the complaint and shall create a
thorough and complete file of the investigation including all records, statements,
evidence and other documents relied upon by the Department in reaching its conclusion
regarding the disposition of the complaint. The Department shall identify all records in
the file which it will rely upon if the matter is to proceed to an administrative hearing and
shall provide copies of those records to the Complainant. The Department shall complete
its investigation and compilation of records within three (3) weeks of the date when the
CRB will have notified the Department in writing of the Complainant’s request for the
CRB’s active involvement.

d) Thereafter, should the Complainant agree, one of the Members of the CRB shall conduct
a preliminary meeting between the Complainant, who may obtain representation, and a
Department representative. At that time, an attempt shall be made to secure a voluntary
resolution of the grievance by the CRB Member’s mediation of the dispute. The
Members of the CRB shall rotate mediation assignments. Where the CRB Member
serving in a mediation role concludes that they have been given information during
mediation which may influence their ability to serve in a neutral capacity, they shall
recuse themselves from future deliberations of the CRB regarding the disposition of the
grievance giving rise to the mediation. Where the parties cannot reach a voluntary
settlement of the complaint, the neutral CRB Member may, at the conclusion of the
mediation, decide that the grievance is so lacking in merit as to be ineligible for appeal to
the next step in which case s/he shall so advise the CRB, which shall vote on whether or
not the grievance should be dismissed.

e) Where no resolution of the grievance has been obtained and the matter not declared
ineligible for appeal, the CRB shall schedule an administrative due process hearing at
which time the parties shall present evidence in support of their respective positions.
Absent good cause shown, the Department shall be precluded from offering documentary

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 evidence which was not previously shared with the Complainant at the preliminary
meeting.

f) The administrative hearing shall be conducted in a manner which will satisfy the due
process requirements of a proceeding held under the New York State Administrative
Procedure Act, including but not limited to the swearing of witnesses and the issuance of
administrative subpoenas to compel the testimony of witnesses, the production of
documents, or both. The relaxed rules of evidence for an administrative proceeding,
including the admissibility of hearsay, shall apply. Should circumstances warrant, the
CRB shall enjoy the discretion to ask questions of its own, to allow testimony in a
narrative fashion, or to employ any reasonable means of eliciting the truth without
placing an undue burden on either side in the controversy. The hearing shall normally be
a private proceeding; a record shall be kept, however, of all testimony adduced and all
evidence presented. The parties shall cooperate to all reasonable extents at the hearing,
and the CRB shall have discretion to draw an adverse inference against any party or
witness who fails to cooperate reasonably with the proceeding.

g) i) Thereafter the CRB, by majority vote, shall set forth in writing its findings of fact and
its final conclusions and shall make an advisory recommendation to the Commissioner of
Public Safety with regard to the disposition of the Complaint. The Conclusions and
Recommendations shall be made available to the public.

ii) Should the CRB Member who has performed the mediation at paragraph (d) recuse
him- or herself from further deliberations by the CRB regarding a pending grievance, the
Chair shall refrain from voting on the CRB’s findings and conclusions regarding that
grievance in order to prevent a tie vote. The Chair shall, however, continue to perform all
other duties of the position.

iii) In making its recommendations and releasing them publicly, the CRB shall be
cognizant of prior, pending or impending legal proceedings, shall adjust the timing of the

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CRB process as appropriate, and shall strive to protect information that should remain
confidential.

iv) The CRB shall operate in an expeditious manner so as to reduce interference in the
Department’s business. While the CRB operates at arm’s length from the Department, its
overall purpose is to enhance the efficiency of the Department’s operations by providing
assurance to the public, through its oversight of the Department, that it operates in a fair
and just manner.

37-7 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY

a) The Commissioner of Public Safety (the Commissioner) shall have no authority to

review any interlocutory procedural or substantive determination of the CRB. The
Commissioner’s authority over the proceedings of the CRB shall be limited to a
review of and action upon the CRB’s advisory Conclusions and Recommendations.

b) The Commissioner shall be provided with the full record of any hearings which result
in advisory Conclusions and Recommendations by the CRB. Within a reasonable
time of receipt of the advisory Conclusions and Recommendations and record, and
after having provided at least 30 days for the Complainant, the Department, or both to
submit written briefs, should either or both so desire, the Commissioner shall issue a
written Decision. That Decision, which shall be made available to the public, shall
include a specific determination as to whether the record provides a sufficient basis
for the CRB’s advisory Conclusions and Recommendations as well as a specific
determination as to whether the CRB’s advisory Conclusions and Recommendations
are in accord with the weight of the evidence admitted at the hearing. In making this
latter determination, the Commissioner shall give reasonable deference to the CRB’s
assessment of the credibility of any witnesses who may have testified before it;
however, the Commissioner retains the authority to review both factual findings and
legal conclusions made by the CRB.

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 c) The Commissioner’s Decision shall adopt, reject, or modify the advisory Conclusions
and Recommendation of the CRB. The Decision shall clearly set forth the reasons for
which the advisory Conclusions and Recommendations are adopted, rejected, or
modified. The Decision shall respect, whenever applicable, the strictures of any
collective bargaining agreement which may limit the scope of the Commissioner’s
authority. For purposes of any potential judicial review of the CRB’s actions under
Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, the Decision of the Commissioner
shall be considered the final administrative determination.

37-8 CONSISTENCY WITH CITY CHARTER

Nothing in this Ordinance shall be read as a limitation, abridgement or infringement of any
rights or powers conferred by the Saratoga Springs City Charter.

This ordinance shall take effect the day after publication as provided by the City Charter
of the City of Saratoga Springs, New York.

ADOPTED: