Members of Miami-Dade County’s Independent Civilian Panel (ICP) say they will hear their first case this month, and this time, they might actually mean it.
Since the arrival of executive director Ursula Price in February, she has refined the panel’s complaint intake process, drafted its mission statement, enlisted needed personnel, locked down a monthly schedule and organized an initial outreach community meeting in Brownsville.
For the first time since the ICP was reinstated in 2020, residents are finally beginning to get a glimpse at how the panel may actually work. The ICP’s April 11 meeting served as a reminder that the panel isn’t here to replace or prosecute Miami-Dade’s police, but to make them better.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Ursula Price, ICP Executive Director
What ICP Can & Can’t Do
During the meeting, Price made certain recommendations that would limit which cases the panel can review, touting efficiency. Chairwoman Loreal Arscott, on the other hand, decided to keep the purview of the panel as wide as possible for now.
“I don’t want in any way for us to limit ourselves and limit our jurisdiction and be contrary to what the ordinance says,” said Arscott.
Price’s suggestions, which will be considered at a later date, were to defer all criminal allegations to law enforcement and to only investigate administrative allegations that follow certain criteria. Those criteria include that the complaint had not been initially filed with the Internal Affairs division of the Miami-Dade Police Department, that it involves allegations that may indicate discrimination or a violation of constitutional or civil rights, or that it involves an accused officer with a history of similar behavior.
That isn’t to say that all criminal investigations will be left solely in the hands of the police. Price says reviewing and critiquing someone else’s investigations could oftentimes be more effective than having the panel do the basic fact-finding itself.
“We are not a law enforcement agency,” said Price. “We can do some investigation, but we’re not going to have the same level of access or information that that criminal investigator is.”
(Law.com)
Loreal Arscott, ICP Chairwoman
Further, although the panel can recommend criminal investigations to the State Attorney’s Office, it doesn’t have the authority to prosecute or fire an officer. What the panel can do is recommend changes or additions in policy so that the department’s very own guidelines disallow harmful practices or require stricter disciplines.
The panel plans to spend the entirety of its next meeting on May 23 hearing just one case, although in the future it anticipates hearing several each meeting. The ICP will meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
Jumping Over Hurdles
One possibility that may hinder the ICP’s ability to hear a case this month or in the future is a lack of quorum, which has repeatedly led to meeting cancellations in the past. During the April meeting, panel members expressed the need to crack down on individuals who are consistently absent.
(Biscayne Times File Photo)
The 2024 election of a Miami-Dade County sheriff is an imminent threat to the Independent Civilian Panel.
“You’re kind of preaching to the choir,” said ICP member Eddie Dominguez, “and I think the people that we need to talk to are those people that aren’t in the room right now … It’s very frustrating to see how much time we’ve put into this and how slow this grind is between the bureaucracy, and frankly the lack of commitment from certain members of this body.”
Only seven members out of what should be 13 were present that day. Members Raymond Melcon and Joe Celestine were absent, as was the newly appointed Steven Miro. There also are three vacancies for districts 6, 7 and 12 awaiting appointments from Commissioners Kevin Marino Cabrera, Raquel Regalado and Juan Carlos Bermudez.
The biggest threat to the continuation of the ICP, however, is the new sheriff that will be elected in 2024. At an April 15 community meeting in Brownsville, Price addressed the elephant in the room, admitting there could well be no oversight in Miami-Dade County come 2025 when the sheriff assumes their position.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Lt. Luis Perez of MDPD’s Northside District Neighborhood Resource Unit (L) speaks to concerned residents at a meeting between the Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association and the Independent Civilian Panel April 15.
Two bills are currently sitting in the Florida Legislature that would undo steps taken by the Board of County Commissioners to retain its own police force in unincorporated Miami-Dade even after a sheriff is elected. SB 1588 and HB 1595 had been recommended favorably by committees but had not undergone an official vote by press time.
Despite the bills’ outcomes, the ICP will still have the opportunity to oversee individual police departments as long as their coinciding municipalities agree to it. Out of the 34 incorporated cities in Miami-Dade County, only Miami and North Miami currently have their own oversight panels.
Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association President Kenneth Kilpatrick made the additional recommendation that the county work to incorporate police oversight into its home rule charter.
Increasing Transparency
(Herve Andrieu/Google Maps)
The Internal Affairs Division at the Miami-Dade Police Department is typically in charge of handling investigations for criminal allegations made against police officers.
In the meantime, the ICP will function as it is meant to. Price is taking additional steps to increase communication and transparency between police and the community.
The Brownsville meeting last month drew in residents with concerns of police interactions and behavior. Some requested that officers treat them with more respect, while others asked for proactive – and not reactive – education toward how young Black men should behave at traffic stops to minimize danger.
Lt. Luis Perez and Officer Willie Green of MDPD’s Northside District Neighborhood Resource Unit informed residents of their outreach and education initiatives, encouraging them to download NextDoor, an app where the officers typically advertise community events.
(Samantha Morell for Biscayne Times)
Independent Civilian Panel member Ruben Paillere (R) sits among Brownsville residents at an ICP community outreach meeting April 15.
At the same time, the officers brought awareness toward the dangers that come with being in law enforcement, their limited powers and required practices.
“Police officers have training around how to keep themselves safe that doesn’t necessarily line up with how we think they should behave, and how they assess risk isn’t necessarily the same as how we do it,” Price added. “So there’s also work that we can do to understand each other a bit better.”
Part of the ICP’s work will be to increase police transparency. That will include keeping residents up to date with the status of their complaint, regardless of whether the ICP is handling the primary investigation or deferring it to law enforcement, as well as increasing data accessibility.
“Generally speaking, I would expect police departments to publish data about internal affairs investigations and discipline,” said Price at the Brownsville meeting. “I would expect them to publish data about stop-and-frisk, about use of force, and I’m not saying that data does not exist (in Miami-Dade); I have not yet found it.”
The next community meeting featuring the ICP is scheduled for May 17 at 6:30 p.m. with statewide organization Florida Rising.