Lincoln City Council Proposes Changes To Police Procedures

LINCOLN — The agenda for the Lincoln City Council’s June 21 meeting will include an ordinance to adopt revisions to police operating procedures.

The council had put any discussions on hold while it waited for an attorney general’s opinion on whether it can approve internal policies in light of Act 714 of 2021, which amended the law concerning law enforcement services for first class cities.

State Rep. Charlene Fite submitted the request for an opinion on behalf of the city of Lincoln and Fite received an answer in an April 26 letter from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

In effect, Rutledge said the council has the authority to dictate or approve internal policies for a police department, as long as the policies are not contrary to state law.

Lincoln Committee of the Whole met June 7 to go through recommended revisions to police operating procedures, along with police Chief Kenneth Albright and city attorney Steve Zega.

Council member Johnny Stowers has been talking about the need to update the procedures for more than three years. The original ordinance was adopted by the council in 1974.

Zega agreed with Stowers last week, saying, “This ordinance needs to be reworked. The question is what needs to be changed. What needs to be left alone.”

The proposed changes reduce police operating procedures from five pages to three pages, and Albright thanked the council for letting him give his “two cents” on the revisions.

According to the proposed ordinance, the chief of police will be the chief executive officer and have direct control and management of all members of the department.

The ordinance gives the chief of police the authority to adopt written internal rules and regulations for the government, discipline, equipment and uniforms of police officers, fixing their duties and prescribing penalties for violation of any such rules and regulations. These written internal rules would be published on the city website.

Zega said he had “grave concerns” that the council should not approve individual items of police department policy but that those should be written by the police chief as the law enforcement professional.

“The guy who writes the policy ought to be the guy who’s trained to write the policy and who has the experience to write the policy,” Zega said.

Stowers said his concern is not the current administration but the city’s next police chief.

“We went through years of nothing coming out of that police department over there,” Stowers said. “You’ve done one hell of a good job (referring to Albright) and I ain’t going to take that away from you. What scares me. You’re going to retire in a couple of years. Who are we going to get in then? I don’t know who’s coming in behind you.”

Albright responded to Stowers that his concern works both ways.

Albright pointed out that anyone applying for the chief’s position in the future, will want to know, “Am I going to get to operate my department?”

Albright added, “Who’s going to be in your (Stowers’) chair in a few years?”

Albright, who worked for Washington County Sheriff’s Office for 17 years, said Lincoln’s proposed ordinance is similar to the one used by the sheriff’s office. The county’s ordinance gives the sheriff, as the executive officer of the department, the authority to set internal policies, as long as they don’t conflict with countywide policies, Albright said.

Mayor Doug Hutchens pointed out, “At the end of the day, if there’s a big issue with the chief of police, it comes down to one thing, you get a new police chief.”

In the law, only the mayor makes the decision about chiefs, Hutchens said, with the chief having the ability to appeal any decisions to the city council.

After more discussion, Stowers said he was willing to forego his concern about city council oversight, if it meant the ordinance would move forward.

According to the proposed ordinance, the chief will have custody and control of public property and equipment for the department, subject to approval of the council.

The chief will keep an accurate and complete record of all complaints, arrests and traffic citations and will make sure a written report is provided to the council each month on all activities and transactions.

The chief also will keep a record of the accomplishments and performances of each officer.

The ordinance also has sections that refer to uniforms and police property, qualifications for the position of police chief or police officer and disciplinary actions and procedures.