Agenda- 180308 Golden Valley Police
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
7800 Golden Valley Road
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Meeting
Thursday—March 8, 2018
8:30 AM
Public Safety Building—Conference Room
AGENDA
I. Call to Order
IL Attendance/Roll Call
III. Agenda Review
IV. Approval of Minutes—February 5, 2018 Meeting
V. New Business
A. Approval of Police Officer Eligibility Register
V L Adj ourn
POLICE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
(�� � Q 7800 Golden Valley Road—Golden Valley,MN 55427
V 1✓ G MEETING
Monday, February 5, 2018 —9:30 AM
Public Safety Building Conference Room
MINUTES
Call to Order
Attendance/Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Chair Wold at 9:34 AM. Present at the meeting were Commissioners Gloria
Kumagai, Ralph Schulz and Andrew Wold; Police Chief Jason Sturgis, City Manager Tim Cruikshank, Human
Resources Director Kirsten Santelices, Council Member Joanie Clausen, Comrnander Steve Johnson,
Commander Dave Kuhnly, City Attorney Maria Cisneros, Administrative Assistant Amanda Johnson and
resident Andy Snope.
Agenda Review `
�
Approval of Minutes of November 2 2017
Commissioner Schulz moved to approve the meeting minutes from�Nt�vember 2, 2017; seconded by �
Commissioner Kumagai. The November 2, 2017 minutes were approv�d by consensus.
Rules & Re�ulations Discussion
Chief Sturgis gave an overview of the revised and reformatted''rules and regulations proposal. Manager
Cruikshank advised the rules and re�ulations were rev�sed�o reflect the past practices of the commission to
create consistency. Attorney�isneros stated the most sfgnificant change to the rules and regulations is the
removal of the "Promotional Register.'��`T�e rules were revised to allow for community service officers to be
added to the "Eligible Registex" after th�c'ompletion of testing requirements, thus eliminating the need for a
"Promotional Register."
Chair Wold stated his Qpinion is the proposed rul�s anct�egulations delegate too much authority to the city
manager and��he feels t�e proposal effectively abolishes the commission by removing its authority. Attorney
Cisneros advised there is a lot of case law�Qncer�ing the delegation of authority to city staff and while not
many cities�have a Civil Service Commissii�n, tnany that do delegate much authority to staff. Attorney Cisneros
advised wl�En��e statutory framewt�rk was written for Civil Service Commissions there wasn't much labor law
or many human resources departments to ensure hiring processes were conducted in a fair manner. Over the
years labor laws l��.ve developed and expanded to the point many cities have delegated authority to staff because
there are human resc�urces departments that are more equipped to work within the employment law framework.
Chair Wold recommended presenting the discussion to the city council for input on what the desired duties of
the Civil Service Commiss'ion are. Council Member Clausen stated the statute governing Civil Service
Commissions is very old and many factars have evolved over time- especially concerning the legalities of
police work. Council Member Clausen stated when commissioners were appointed she did not intend to give
them the power that the statute allows; however, she does believe the rules and regulations should be revised to
reflect the actual practices of the commission. Council Member Clausen also stated she believes hiring
practices should be consistent across all city departments and city staff is better suited to handle those
responsibilities.
Police Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes
February 5, 2018—Page 2 �J����i� �alle
Y
Manager Cruikshank advised it is a fairly unique situation to have a city manager form of government in
addition to a Civil Service Commission. Staff conducted research and found only 7 of the 50 cities sampled had
a Civil Service Commission (some are both Police & Fire), and only 3 of those have a city manager form of
government- Coon Rapids, Roseville and Maplewood. Staff reached out to the City of Maplewood to inquire
how the Civil Service Commission operates and has not heard back. Coon Rapids has a Police & Fire Civil
Service Commission, which is significantly different than solely having a Police Civil Service Commission.
Richfield had a joint Police & Fire Civil Service Commission and their council voted in July 2017 to abolish the
Police Civil Service Commission due to the inherent conflict between the city man��ger form of government and
the statutary duties of the commission. Richfield did retain the Fire Civil Service Com��ission.
Council Member Clausen stated she believes it is appropriate at times to ha�e citi�en input into police
department operations,but does not feel the commission should dictate,�olice de�artsment operations.
Chair Wold stated he believes the delegation to city staff is more ihan is se�n in the rules and regulations of
other cities he has reviewed and requested the commission go b�f�re the city council to dis�uss the
commission's duties. Council Member Joanie Clausen inquir�d what changes Chair Wold would like to see and
he advised he would need to have a discussion with fellow commissioner�to draft a proposal if fhe city council
is interested in retaining the commission. Commissioner Wo1d'����dvised he�ould like to see the���ase law
Attorney Cisneros referenced. �
Commissioner Schulz advised it is his opinion that one shouldn't fix what isn't broken. He stated he does not
want to be part of an activist commission that forces e�anges in the hiring�t��police officers. Commissioner
Schulz cited several recent stories of officers involved in:fatal shootings where la�vsuits have been filed and
damages awarded, and he stated he does not want tt� be part t�f potential lawsuits that could be filed stemming
from incidents involving Golden Valley police officers, which could h�ppen if the Civil Service Commission is
directly involved in hiring.
Chair Wold stated there is a difference between being an''activist commission and an active commission, and he
feels the commission has existed as a rubber stamp commission� which seems unnecessary. He advised his
understanding was there is civilian oversight of the police d�partment and when he joined the commission he
discovered there is not. Council�Member���u�n stated.she believes commissioners are liaisons between the
police and the corrimuniEy and feels�commissioners cQuld�bring up concerns to the police department about how
matters in Golden ValIey and surrounding cities are handled. Chair Wold advised if the city desires to have a
liaison commission, the Civil'���Service Commissian should be abolished and a new committee should form to
work between police and the cammunity.
City Manager Cruikshank advised he does not believe the intent of the statute is to have civilian review of the
police department�'��and recommended there be discussion of what commissioners believe the intent of the statute
is. Attorney Cisneras'also recommended there be open discussion of desired changes to allow staff an
opportunity to conducY more research ahead of drafting a final proposal. Chair Wold advised he did not have
anything prepared to propose, having just received the city's draft proposal on Friday. Chair Wold
recommended tabling the discussion and having the discussion with the full council to see if the desire is to
abolish the commission before commissioners work on a draft proposal of their own.
City Manager Cruikshank requested to hear Commissioner Kumagai's thoughts on the discussion and she
advised the city's draft proposal was sent to commissioners with no context and it was difficult to determine
what changes were made to the rules and regulations. She advised she was not prepared to propose changes at
this time and requested the opportunity to look at the Maplewood and Roseville rules and regulations. City
Manager Cruikshank advised it would be helpful for staff to know the thoughts of commissioners in order to
Police Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes
February 5,2018—Page 3 �J����� �alle
Y
proceed with making changes or keeping the rules and regulations aligned with the past practices of the
commission.
Commissioner Schulz, Manager Cruikshank, Human Resources Director Santelices and Council Member
Clausen inquired what changes Chair Wold would like to see and Chair Wold advised he is not prepared or
comfortable articulating his opinion at this time and would rather put his thoughts into a written proposal.
Manager Cruikshank advised staff can help provide more information to commissioners on how Coon Rapids,
Roseville and Maplewood operate.
Commissioner Schulz advised Chair Wold mentioned at the last commission meeting that if candidates have
equal scores, minorities should be moved to the top of the list. Chair Wold advised he does believe there should
be an affirmative action policy, but that is a separate issue from the rules and regul�tions discussion. City
Manager Cruikshank advised such policy would become integrated as part of the Civi1 Service Commission
rules and it would be helpful for Chair Wold and other commissian�rs to advise what objectives they have so
staff has subject matter to research and work with. Chair Wold,advised'where there is na d�fined method to
ranking candidates of equal scores (when those candidates include minorities), minorities shvuld be considered
as the top candidates. Attorney Cisneros advised cities mt�st often adopt�firmative Action Plans�or two
primary reasons: 1) If the organization wants to contract with fhe�ederal gov�rnment; and 2) If the government
requires an arganization to have an Affirmative Action Plan as a punitive��measure- stemming from some sort of
violation. Chair Wold advised those are examples of what an Affirmative Action Plan is used for, but those are
not the only reasons an organization would develop an Aff'irmative Action Plan. Chief Sturgis advised when
scores have been equal among candidates in the�as�,almost always the wor�en and minority candidates have
been ranked at the top. However, there have been instane�s where candidates witli experience may rank higher
than women or minorities with the same score base� on depart��nt needs at the time. Chair Wold
recommended experience be given a point value to differentiate scoz'es c�f candidates on the eligible register.
Commissioner Kumagai moved to'��tab�e the rules and r�gulations discussion while more research is conducted;
seconded by Chair Wold. Commissioner Schulz abstained from voting, stating he believed a motion should be
made to accept the draft'proposal presented to the commission. Motion carried.
Membership Term Expirations`
Chair Wold�dvised per��state law, the cornmissioner in�the last year of his/her term is the designated chair of the
commission, thus, Commissior�er Schulz should k�e the chair through OS/O1/18 when his term expires. Chair
Woldalso r�commended Commissioner Kutnagai be elected secretary through OS/O1/18. On OS/O1/18,
Commissior��r Kumagai would become the designated chair and Commissioner Wold would be elected
secretary. Cammissioner Kumagai proposed these recommendations be accepted; seconded by Commissioner
Schulz. The motion was approved by consensus.
Chief's Report
Chief Sturgis advised the police department currently has one vacancy for a patrol officer and a hiring process is
underway. Chief Sturgis stated the department has selected a vendor for body-worn cameras and the new
cameras are expected to go into service sometime in March. Chief Sturgis advised several Golden Valley police
officers assisted Bloomington and Minneapolis Police Departments in covering events surrounding the Super
Bowl. Chief Sturgis introduced Dave Kuhnly as the new police commander, effective 02/OS/18. Chief Sturgis
anticipates a sergeant retiring in 2019, which is the only resignation he is aware of. In summarizing 2017, Chief
Sturgis stated Part 1 crimes were up approximately 1% and Part 2 crimes were up 19%. The 2018 Citizen's
Academy is currently underway and several Coffee with a Cop events are scheduled for 2018.
Police Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes
February 5, 2018—Page 4 ���.��i� ��,lle
y
Human Resources Director Kirsten Santelices advised the commission that the city desires to utilize the
community service officer program as a feeder program for sworn officer positions and expects to expand its
outreach to candidates that may be interested in law enforcement. Director Santelices mentioned that the
proposed rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission removed the requirement for a sergeant to be a
current Golden Valley police officer, allowing the city to hire a sergeant from an outside agency.
Adjournment
Commissioner Schulz moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Commissioner I�umagai. The meeting was
adjourned at 11:08 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ralph Schulz, Secretary
�
��;�
��.,
�� �f�F<.
<:>
�:;>
,..
�
, f,:;,
December 2017 Officer Hiring Process
Applicants: 47
American Indian/American Eskimo: 0
Asian or Pacific Islander: 2
Afircan American: 5
Hispanic: 2
Caucasian: 37
Two or More Races: 1
Unknown: 0
Male: 38
Female: 8
Unknown: 1
Finalists: 2
African American Male: 1
Caucasian Female: 1
G��� �� n ��
� � ����,:,.
� �
�� � �� �� �
�,s � � � °
Police Departrnent
763-593-8079/763-593-8098(fax)
Date: March 8, 2018
To: Golden Valley Civil Service Commission
From: Chief Jason Sturgis
Subject: Police Officer Examination Results
The following is a list of scores for police officer candidates from our recent testing process:
NAME RANK SCORE
Leah Andrews 1 98
Brandon Lewis 2 96