Police commission closes in on strategic plan

Police commissioners this week said they are close to settling on the model for monitoring the implementation of the department’s 2011 Strategic Plan.

The subcommittee formed to look into oversight of the strategic plan could have a full report at the next meeting, Commissioner Richard Warmack said at a meeting Wednesday. A recommendation could come after commissioners fully vet the proposal.

The strategic plan is essentially a guide to the Police Department’s operations and sets the tone for a culture that police and city leaders hope continues to change amid officer-involved lawsuits and an outside investigation into use-of-force issues.

Commissioners are weighing if, and how, they will be the body responsible for ensuring the goals of the plan are being met, or if an outside person, such as attorney Robert Corbin, would fill that role.

Commissioner Nathan Rubinfeld expressed concerns about the cost of hiring an outside monitor when that money could put another officer or vehicle on the street.

“That’s one of the things being vetted out in the [strategic plan] subcommittee,” Chairwoman Elise Stearns-Niesen said.

She added that being cost-effective was an important consideration.

“I hope there is a transfer of information so we can be the people that provide oversight,” she said.

By next month, the subcommittee could also make a recommendation on whether a request for proposals for strategic plan oversight should be issued, Stearns-Niesen said.

Among the other items mentioned at the commission meeting was how public complaints brought to the Police Commission’s attention should be dealt with.

Commissioner Robert Cohen requested the matter be added to the commission’s next meeting agenda.