By Philip Harris, D.B.A., Executive Director of CIB, City of North Miami
As the world watched, George Floyd died under the knee of a law enforcement officer. The response to his death reverberated within the City of North Miami, and its leaders launched a proactive approach to improve communications and transparency between their citizens and law enforcement officers.
In July 2020, the North Miami Office of the City Manager, Citizens Investigative Board (CIB) was created by the City Council to provide its residents with an unbiased, independent forum, where their complaints and accolades, pertaining to the actions of sworn members of the North Miami Police Department, could be evaluated. How the CIB would operate and who would govern its actions became the next questions that the City had to answer. For solutions, they sought guidance from other municipalities that were tackling the same issues.
CIB follows the standardized procedures set forth by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). Major accomplishments, since CIB’s establishment, include the creation of a five-year strategic plan and a case management system, which features a public online portal for residents to lodge complaints and commendations. Developing the portal required a new source of technological support.
“We needed a technology infrastructure that simply wasn’t available yet, so it had to be created,” said Dr. Philip Harris, D.B.A., Executive Director of CIB. “The method for residents to be able to report complaints and commendations needed to be simple, transparent, and intuitive, yet effective and easily integrated into existing systems. We found nothing that met that criteria, so we began a relationship with a Miami-based private partner that was able to develop what was required and had a vested interest in its success.”
The solution became a user-friendly platform for resident intake and an advanced case management system for government departments. The software is proprietary to the partner and specifically designed to improve government administration and increase public engagement and access to services.
Dr. Harris said that the innovation demonstrates how governments can find and deploy user-friendly technologies to increase public engagement and advance worthy initiatives.
As of March 2023, North Miami’s CIB has six board members, appointed by the City Council, who are reflective of the city’s diverse, multicultural makeup. As best practice, the City delivered eight hours of training with support from its partner, NACOLE, for CIB members and staff. Reports from residents are being successfully submitted and reviewed via the online platform. CIB works closely with the police department to objectively research each submission and make a determination about the officer’s conduct. The resident is kept abreast of his or her case via email.
North Miami residents who submit CIB reports can pinpoint incident locations, upload videos, exchange messages directly with CIB investigators and legal counsel, and receive automated updates about their submissions. CIB simultaneously uses the proprietary platform internally to log investigation progress, assign tasks and deadlines, and share records.
“We are proud of the efforts made during and after the pandemic to create an important oversight mechanism,” Dr. Harris said. “The City recognizes the significance of such a body being able to work alongside our police department to open lines of communication between officers and the people they serve even further.”
To learn more about the North Miami CIB, visit Northmiamifl.gov/CIB
