Independence, Transparency, and Accountability:

Establishing Effective External Oversight

Mechanisms

NACOLE Regional Meeting

May 13th, 2016
InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico
School of Law
San Juan, Puerto Rico

An event co-hosted by:

National Association for Civilian
Oversight of Law Enforcement
&
ACLU of Puerto Rico

AGENDA
Independence, Transparency, and Accountability:
Establishing Effective External Oversight Mechanisms

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Opening Remarks
William Ramirez, Executive Director, ACLU of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Cameron McEllhiney, Director of Training and Education, NACOLE, Indianapolis, IN

9:30 a.m. - 10: 15 a.m.

Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement: An Overview

Cameron McEllhiney, Director of Training & Education, NACOLE, Indianapolis, IN

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Basic Principals, Mechanisms, and Methods for Installing Oversight
Liana Perez, Director of Operations, NACOLE, Tucson, AZ
Cameron McEllhiney, Director of Training & Education, NACOLE, Indianapolis, IN
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 a.m.

Lunch

1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

The Importance of Community and Government Engagement

Susan Hutson, Monitor, Office of the Independent Monitor, New Orleans, LA

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Access to Public Documents and the Importance of Data

Josue Gonzlez-Ortz, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Susan Hutson, Office of the Independent Monitor, New Orleans, LA

3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Break

3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

Independence, Transparency, and Accountability

Cristina Beamud, Executive Director, Civilian Investigative Panel, Miami, FL

4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

Group Discussion Next Steps

4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Next Steps and Closing Remarks

Please note, this schedule is subject to change without notice.

1

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
CRISTINA BEAMUD
Ms. Beamud was born and raised in New York City and graduated from The State University of New
York at Albany in 1974. She became one of the first class of five women police officers in Rochester,
New York in 1976 and was a patrol officer, an internal affairs investigator and a criminal investigator
until 1987 when she left to attend Northeastern University School of Law. She is a member of the
Massachusetts Bar and served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex County District
Attorneys office for six years. She then worked as an Assistant City Solicitor and Legal Advisor to the
Cambridge Police Department until 2006. In 2006 she became the first Police Auditor for the City of
Eugene, Oregon and then was the first Executive Director of the Atlanta Citizens Review Board. She
began her work here in Miami in December of 2013. She currently serves at the Executive Director of
the City of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel.

SUSAN HUTSON

Susan Hutson is the Independent Police Monitor for the City of New Orleans Ms. Hutson is also the
President of the International Law Enforcement Auditors Association.
The City of New Orleans welcomed Susan Hutson as the Independent Police Monitor in June of 2010.
Prior to accepting the position in New Orleans, Ms. Hutson worked at the Los Angeles Police
Commissions Office of the Inspector General as an Assistant Inspector General from 2007 to 2010,
where she garnered firsthand knowledge of police oversight under a federal consent decree. Ms.
Hutson began working in police oversight as the Assistant Police Monitor in Austin from 2004-2007
and served as the Acting Police Monitor for one year.

Prior to moving into police oversight, Ms. Hutson worked in private practice in Houston and as an
Assistant City Attorney in Corpus Christi City, where she was Chief Prosecutor of the Municipal Court
and later moved to the Employment Law Section. In that section, one of her responsibilities was to
defend the citys decisions to discipline police officers. Ms. Hutsons experience in dealing with
Internal Affairs and civil service law in Corpus Christi led her into the field of police oversight.
Ms. Hutson holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from
Tulane University School of Law.

JOSUE GONZLEZ-ORTZ
Mr. Gonzlez-Ortz has for the past eight years been Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties
Union of Puerto Rico (ACLU). He also be working to promote stakeholder participation in the process
of reforming the Puerto Rico Police Department, and has litigated in Puerto Rico courts to get access
to public information. Prior to joining the ACLU he was an attorney with the Puerto Rico Legal
Services Corporation and the Puerto Rico Justice Department
Mr. Gonzalez-Ortiz holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Puerto Rico, a J.D. from the
Inter American University School of Law, and a Masters from the University of Puerto Rico - School of
Urban Planning.

CAMERON MCELLHINEY
Cameron McEllhiney serves as the Director of Training and Education for National Association for
Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). As such, Ms. McEllhiney plays a leading role in
designing, coordinating, delivering, and evaluating the training provided by NACOLE. This includes
events such as the Annual NACOLE Conference, academic symposia, regional training events, and
webinars. In addition, she assists with the development and implementation of training programs for
individual oversight mechanisms or communities when requested. As the only full-time employee of
NACOLE, she also provides support to many of the organization's committees as well as to the
President, Board of Directors, Director of Operations, and membership as needed.
Ms. McEllhiney first became involved with NACOLE in 1998 while she was a member of the
Indianapolis Citizens' Police Complaint Board. She served with this Board for six years, including two
as President. Since 2004, Ms. McEllhiney has performed work for NACOLE as a contractor, initially
helping with bookkeeping and operations, and later transitioning to be the conference coordinator
with a primary focus on planning and supporting the Annual Conference.
In addition to her work with NACOLE, she has worked for many years with local civic organizations for
which she has spearheaded organizational development, and worked on budget, succession, and
governance issues. Ms. McEllhiney received her degree in political science from DePauw University
and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband and her two daughters.

LIANA PEREZ
Liana Perez has held the position of Director of Operations for NACOLE since 2014. She assists the
President, Board of Directors, and Director of Training & Education with the day-to-day operations of
the organization. Ms. Perez was formerly the Independent Police Auditor for the City of Tucson & the
Director of the City of Tucson's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs for over 17 years. She was the
City of Tucson's first Independent Police Auditor, entrusted with establishing the office and creating
effective oversight for the community. Upon her retirement in 2014, she chose to continue her work
in the field of civilian oversight as a contractor for NACOLE.
During her tenure as the Independent Police Auditor, Ms. Perez served two separate terms on the
NACOLE Board of Directors, assisting with the conference planning, membership and
finance committees.
She is a fifth generation Tucsonan and has worked in the field of civil rights for over twenty years with
the City of Tucson and with the Arizona Attorney General's Civil Rights Division. She has a degree in
Business Administration from Pima Community College, a certificate as a Certified Public
Manager from Arizona State University and attended the University of Arizona.