friday, november 18, 1977
daily nebraskan
Citizen's police advisory board merit
questioned by city officials, members
Seasons
Bv Rod Mumhv
Although the Citizen Police Advisory Board perhaps
is not the success it could be, city officials say they
believe the program rates some merit simply because it
exists.
Lincoln Police Chief George Hansen claims the board is
unnecessary but agreed with Mayor Helen Boosalis that by
being available, the board has some worth.
"It is there for citizens to use when they feel they need
it and to that extent it has been successful," Boosalis
said. The board has worked as a "safety valve, she added.
The board exists for people who want to file
complaints against the police dept. but do not want to go
through the Police Internal Affairs Division. That division
usually handles complaints, according to detective Iinda
Steinman.,
The board was designed to hear citizen's complaints
and to recommend corrective action, she said.
Two complaints heard
However, only 11 complaints have been filed, two of
which have been heard by the board since its beginning
in September 1975, Steinman said.
In contrast, internal affairs handled about 400 citizen
complaints, according to Hansen.
It is a statistic such as this that causes the chief to say
the board is "unnecessary.
Hansen said there has never been a successful police
review board in the country.
He said he had no complaints with the seven member
board, paying they were "a group of dedicated citizens,"
but they were working under a process no one is happy
with.
"In terms of the cases heard so far, I'm not satisfied,"
Hansen said.
Hansen said he has suggested no improvements in the
proceedure since he has not been asked to do so by the
board.
Under the current system, the complainant will go to
the mayor's office and request a form that will be sub
mitted to the police department and the members of the
citizen police advisory board, she said.
Complaints heard
The board then will decide if they will hear the case.
Often they decline to hear it because they think the com
plaint has no legal grounds, meaning the officer in
question acted within legal limits.
The first step the board takes if it decides to review
the case is a conciliatory meeting between the complain
ant and the officer. Two members of the board also are
present, Steinman said.
If the differences are not solved there, the matter goes
before the full board. At this point the board reviews
reports made by the internal affairs department along
with the citizen's complaint.
The board can decide if the complaint warrants
corrective action, according to Jerald Fisher, legal advisor
for the police department.
If it does, the board notifies the mayor and the police
chief who will decide what action will be taken, he said.
Steinman said this process means most cases heard
eventually will go before the full board since differences
will seldom be resolved in the conciliatory meeting.
One complaint has been filed this year and it was
heard by the board but no conclusion was reached, she
said. '
Members of the board are Nancy O'Brien, Ed Wimes,
Ted LaRose, Nick Garcia, Frederick Wagner and Joe
Julian. One slot on the board currently is vacant because
of a resignation, according to the mayor's office.
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Sunrise Communications radio station
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The target date of the first regular broadcast by Sunrise
Communications radio station is now Dec. 25, according
to Ron Kurtenbach, a board member of the non-profit
corporation.
"Christmas morning would be a nice time to start,'
he said. But Kurtenbach said a number of tests and signal
checks have to be made first. He said officials of the
new 10-watt, educational FM station at 89.5 MHz would
test within the next two weeks to see if the station signal
interferes with that of an Omaha television station,
WOWT.
Kurtenbach said Sunrise Communications would install
an inexpensive filter on any television sets where interfer
ence was a problem.
The station's tower is near a junkyard at 20th street
and Cornhusker Highway, he noted.
"We don't expect top many (interference) complaints
from those junked cars," Kurtenbach said. After the
station completes testing, he said, it will file with the Fed
eral Communications Commission (FCC) for permission
to' broadcast regular programming. The FCC already has
approved the FM station's call letters, KZUM.
Kurtenbach said preparations for broadcasting may not
be finished until early next year, but Christmas morning
currently is set for programming.
"We want to be well .prepared," he said. "Specific
programs will be planned out before we start. We want to
serve the listeners of Lincoln."
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11-30-77
U.S. anthropologists assemble
Anthropologists from 25 states and
Canada are in Lincoln this week to discuss
current research and to analyze problems
facing mankind today.
The 35th Annual Great Plains Confer
ence began Wednesday and will continue
through Saturday, said Carl R. Falk, UNL
anthropology instructor and conference
chairman.
Falk said the conference allows pre
fessionals to informally discuss the current
studies and allows students to meet the
people that authored the articles and books
they study.
The annual banquet is Friday evening. A
public lecture follows, featuring Lewis R.
Binford, guest speaker.
Falk called Binford an internationally
known anthropologist, and "one of the
most significant forces in anthropology in
the past 15 years."
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page 7
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