The Syracuse Citizen Review Board (CRB) convened on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at 5:30 PM with a quorum. The meeting focused on the suspension of the board's investigatory powers since April 17, 2026, following a directive from the Corporation Council based on an appellate court decision concerning the Rochester Police Accountability Board. The board reported ongoing community outreach but no new investigations, and heard intense public testimony urging the board to resume its statutory duties and publicly advocate for itself.
Now we will bring the Citizen Review Board meeting to uh the start. Um the this is Tuesday, June second, twenty twenty six, five thirty. Uh, we do have a quorum uh for the meeting for today. Um, first of all, I'd like to welcome the guests and uh our distinguished uh councilwoman here. Um, the first thing we're gonna do is uh roll call from the Secretary. Okay, Laura Elise. You say she's coming. Here, Mike. Um, first thing on the agenda is that we didn't have a meeting in May, so there is no uh minutes to approve for the May meeting because of the incident that's uh we're facing right now with the uh CRB and the uh current situation. Um the chairman report I don't have a report now because we're still waiting to see what the outcome of the uh decision for the uh case in Rochester. Um investigations have been put on hold and are pending of that decision coming out of Rochester and the appellate court. Um we have been holding uh events for the board. We've been uh canvassing at different locations. Um, just giving our information out that the CRB is uh still alive and doing well. Unfortunately, we're not taking any new cases in for investigation. Um the next thing on the agenda is going to be the uh administrative report from Olita Tannehill. Friminalita Tanayel. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming out. Uh we will start with the obvious. As you know, the CRB investigative part orders have been suspended, and that took place on April 17th of 2026. The CRB was instructed by Corporation Council, which is the council to the City of Syracuse and the CRB to suspend its investigative powers. This directive was issued because of an appellate court decision concerning the Rochester Police Accountability Board in the matter of Rochester Police Lotus Club versus City of Rochester. Um the CRB is continuing its efforts to confer with Corporation Council regarding its ability to lawfully exercise its statutory powers despite the new decision. Meanwhile, to ensure the public still has a pathway for grievances during this transition, CRB will continue to accept complaints on behalf of the community members and to otherwise engage directly with the community relative to encounters with police. Other investigative functions, including holding hearings, have been suspended at the council's direction. The civilian review board, it stands um stands as the frontline for the police, serving as a primary liaison between our community and law enforcement. We remain committed to ensuring every citizen is seen and heard. The CRB continues bridging the gap between the public and the police, ensuring that oversight remains a reality rather than a promise. So we are still moving and being active. Our April engagements. Throughout April, the CRB maintained presence at the local events to share resources and clarify our evolving role. In late April, we successfully updated all CRB literature to reflect the change in language regarding our role, ensuring the public is accurately informed of our current functions. So April the 1st, there was a training that Don and Julie participated in for the Workforce Central training, which is a program that we use at the city, well, use at the city level. Chris and Don also met with API team to explain services used for data analysis, and that was April the 7th. On April the 8th, we were at a community resource fair. Adonia represented the CRB to provide resource navigations and information to local residents. April 13th through the 14th, Don and myself, we went to an oversight conference in New York City where we collaborated and networked with other CRBs and legislative challenges and police oversight. April the 18th, we participated in Shine Your Light Talent Show. Don and myself conducted outreach and distributed CRB information to the Syracuse community. On April the 25th, we attended 100 black men Renaissance Gala. There were three staff, four board members, and three community representatives engaged in community networking and high-level outreach with civic leaders. April the 27th was a TNT meeting that we showed up at, participated in the Tomorrow's Neighborhood Today meeting to engage directly with the neighborhood and stakeholders. April the 30th, our data analysis attended a NACO data forum that was actually virtual. And then in the month of May, May 2026, our community engagement and advocacy log says that on May 5th, we attended our quarterly meeting with the chief, myself, Adonia, and board member Elise met with the police leadership to maintain a presence in the department departmental discussions despite the suspension. So we are still meeting with our chief of police to make sure that we are still at least meeting and getting our our name out there still. May 6th, we did a meet and greet with Chief Rustin and Mayor Orwens. The CRB and staff members showed up to participate. May 7th, the Hiscock legal aid event. Adonia participated in networking events focused on legal aid and strengthening community support systems.