[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Perth Amboy 5-12-2021 by Ord. No. 1972-2021. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A Citizens' Public Safety Advisory Board is hereby established.
[Amended 1-25-2023 by Ord. No. 2071-2022]
A. 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall consist of seven members. All members shall be appointed by the City Council for a term of three years. Of the seven members, there shall be two youth members, one age 21 years to 30 years old and one age 16 years to 20 years old. The members shall all be residents of the City of Perth Amboy. Also, of the seven members, one shall be a current member of the Council, and two shall be members of the Perth Amboy Police Department who shall serve "ex officio," meaning that they shall not have the power to introduce or vote on any resolutions. One of the ex officio members shall be an officer with expertise in police training and the other shall have experience in community policing. One shall be of the Patrol division; one a ranking supervisor. The ex officio members shall be recommended to the Council by the Police Chief.
B. 
All voting members shall be fully vetted in accordance with any requirements of the City of Perth Amboy and shall complete training in evidence-based research in the Middlesex College continuing education program or on the Citizens Campaign portal (www.thecitizenscamapign.org) prior to being authorized to vote on any resolutions of the Council.
A. 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall be considered a public body as defined in the Open Public Meetings Act[1] and shall conduct public meetings accordingly at least four times a year. The Advisory Board shall act by resolution.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
B. 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall have the following powers:
(1) 
Serve as an advisory board to the Mayor, City Council and Police Chief;
(2) 
Recommend to the Mayor, City Council, City Administrator, and Police Chief evidence-based policies that have been proven to be successful and that might improve screening, training, reporting and any other actions or practices that enhance de-escalation and the continuing improvement of the Department's "guardian" culture;
(3) 
To conduct public hearings concerning de-escalation practices and to receive evidence-based best practice input from individuals, including police officers, concerning de-escalation techniques;
(4) 
Review an annual de-escalation performance audit that shall be provided by the Perth Amboy Police Department to report progress on any policies or practices adopted or actions taken to improve the de-escalation capabilities and performance of the Department, including, but not limited to, improving recruitment screening and psychological testing (in conformance with statute and Administrative Code), use of force reporting, de-escalation training, and any other practices and policies that enhance de-escalation capabilities;
(5) 
Such other legally permissible duties and activities designated by resolution of the City Council and/or recommendation of the Mayor;
(6) 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall not have the power to investigate the conduct of any member or officer of the Police Department;
(7) 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall not have subpoena power and shall not have the power to compel the production of records, documents or testimony;
(8) 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall not have access to Internal Affairs files;
(9) 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall not have the power to conduct investigations of allegations of police misconduct concurrently with an Internal Affairs investigation;
(10) 
Any records provided to the Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall have the names of members of the Police Department redacted;
(11) 
The Citizen's Public Safety Advisory Board shall not have the power to recommend or impose discipline upon any member or officer of the Police Department.