HomeMy Public PortalAboutRES-CC-1980-06RESOLUTION NO. 6-80
On Wednesday, July 23, 1980, at 8:00 P.M. at the
City Hall, the Moab City Council met in an emergency session,
and immediately adjourned to Executive Session which was reconvened
at 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, July 24, 1980.
The meeting was called by the Mayor in response to
what he and several members of the Council perceived
as a growing public crisis generated by lack of effective law
enforcement in the City. After reviewing a number of citizen
complaints addressed to various members of the governing body
and complaints generated by members of the Council themselves
through their personal observations, the City Council has placed
the entire police department of the City of Moab on probation.
The action was taken without condemnation of the
conduct or behavior of any one individual in the department, but
the action points to a failure of the department as a whole in
meeting expected criteria for effective law enforcement with which
the department is charged, and failure of the department to either
abide by City policies or procedures, or to institute intra-
departmental procedures and practices that meet the minimum
has made arrangements for alternative sources of police protection
for the City, should the need arise during the probationary
period.
Therefore, the City Council, after discussion
in general session and having reconvened in special open session,
unanimously resolved that the Chief of Police, as department
head, be directed to immediately establish and carry out the
following policies, procedures and programs:
1. Administrative Matters:
(a) The Chief of Police is a department head of the
City of Moab and has the full responsibility for the administration
of his department. As such, he is a member of the administration
of the City and shall enforce among the employees of his depart-
ment, the policies and procedures of the City of Moab. In
disputes between a member of his department on one side, and a
member of City administration, on the other, he shall enforce
the decision of the City Administration and insure that
the employees of his department abide thereby even though he may
have recommended a different course of conduct and be personally
opposed to the decision.
as their deficiencies. Failure to note areas where improvement of
working habits and personal conduct can be beneficial to the
employee is deemed by the Council to be a failure of leadership
required of a department head.
(c) As department head, the Chief of Police shall
be the person to whom complaints of personnel in the department
shall be made, and he shall be personally responsible for
communicating those complaints which he cannot resolve, directly
to the City Administrator, who shall either, through the purview
of his own office or through consultation with the governing body
shall resolve those complaints which the Chief of Police cannot
handle. The Chief of Police is an indispensible link in the chain
of authority between the governing body and the employees of his
department. He shall insure that every member of his department,
by his own communication to them, is aware of the requirements
of the governing body as administered by the Mayor and City
Administrator. The department of the police and all other
departments of the City shall abide by the interpretation of
City policies and procedures made by the City administration.
Disagreements with such interpretation shall not excuse conduct
2. Professional Conduct:
(a) The Chief of Police will immediately create and
institute ongoing programs to insure a professional level of
conduct among the law enforcement officers in his department, at
the least, the following minimum standards:
(1) A11 officers will deep personal logs of their
duty time which shall include their notes taken in connection with
incidents involving matters of law enforcement or other public
services upon which they may be called to serve. The log shall
reflect, among other matters, the time and place of activities on
routine patrol such as building checks, bar visits, automobile
stops and whether or not a citation is issued.
(2) A11 incidents which in the officer's judgment,
require further action, either investigatory or criminal process,
shall be described in detail on incident report forms prepared
for that purpose and such reports will include, at the minimum,
the following:
(i) A characterization of the suspected
offense;
(ii) The time, place and date of the incident;
(iii) Witness names, addresses and. where deemed
contradictory.
3. Police Department Policies and Procedures
The Chief of Police will immediately draft and
promulgate to his department policies and procedures of law
enforcement activities including but not limited to a code of
conduct and personal appearance, appropriate radio procedures,
appropriate use of firearms, appropriate use of patrol vehicles.
Special attention shall be given to the requirments of courtesy
and respect to the general public in dealing with members of the
public, and the procedures so promulgated shall provide for
disciplinary procedures when conduct of the officers falls short
of those requirements.
4. Training:
The Chief of Police shall institute training programs
and utilize to the greatest extent possible, training by the State
Police Academy and its affiliates, the Utah State Highway Patrol,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms Division, and other programs which enhance the effect-
iveness of law enforcement in this community. He shall immediately
establish a schedule of such programs which utilize local
(24) hour law enforcement protection through arrangements with the
Sheriff's Office, Highway Patrol, or assignment of his own personnel.
5. Relationship to Other Departments:
The Chief of Police shall insure the highest degree
of cooperation with the Sheriff's Department of Grand County and
the State Department of the Highway Patrol, especially with respect
to plans for patrolling problem areas. He shall personally see
that all friction between related law enforcement agencies is
eliminated where such friction generates from his department.
6. Investigations:
The Chief of Police shall forthwith conduct investi-
gations into the following charges which have come to the
attention of the governing body, and within ten (10) days, report
in writing his findings and recommendations, including disciplinary
action where appropriate, with respect to the following:
(a) That certain of the officers personally use or
abuse controlled substances.
(b) That certain of the officers, in their general
conduct with the public, regularly engage in vulgar and obscene
language.
(e) That certain of the officers have violated
the confidence of informants.
7. Special Programs:
When requested by the governing body or the City
Administrator, the Chief of Police will present concrete programs,
plans, and schedules, to meet problems of law enforcement as they are
called to his attention, and such will be done in a timely and
responsible manner to effectively correct the law enforcement
problems called to his attention.
CONCLUSION
The Moab City Council is embarrassed at the need
to be so precise in setting forth these requirements, but investi-
gation by the governing body and Administrator have indicated that
such a lack of the foregoing criteria is the principle cause for
the present crisis in law enforcement in this City, and shall
require that these corrective measures be effected forthwith.
The City Administrator is assigned the addtional
duty of monitoring the police department, and especially the
conduct of the Chief of Police in the establishment of these
programs. This assignment to the City Administrator does not
body can be advised of the progress or failure of the Chief of
Police and his department in complying with these instructions.
The governing body will review, at the end of the
two (2) week probationary period, the compliance with this
directive by the Chief of Police and his department, and at that
time, take such further action as shall be deemed appropriate.
DONE IN COUNCIL this 24th day of July, A.D. 1980.
CITY OF MOAB
By
ATTEST:
arold Jac%• , Mayor