Sworn in and apprised of their first real work, the
members of the new Police Conduct Oversight Commission chose three cases of
alleged police misconduct to review in their first ever meeting Tuesday night
at City Hall.
The seven-member civilian panel is the latest piece of the
city’s new system for civilian oversight of the police department. It was
formed after last year’s collapse of the city’s Civilian Police Review
Authority, which fell apart amid complaints from its members that their rulings
on police misconduct cases were routinely ignored by the police chief.
On Tuesday, the commission members spent two hours getting
sworn in, reviewing some rules and a code of ethics and discussing which cases
of alleged police misconduct they should review. The members chose three from a
list of ten randomly chosen cases. Michael Browne, director of the city’s
Office of Police Conduct Review, urged them to limit their review to three
cases.
He spent some time after the meeting explaining to a
reporter the commission’s work. The commission will not “pick apart” the cases
of alleged misconduct or “second guess” whether or not discipline is warranted
in each case. That heavy lifting will be done by a Police Conduct Review Panel,
which is made up of two civilians and two police officers.
The commission will instead review summaries of each case
and look for “broad stroke” policy issues to address in the civilian oversight
process, said Browne.
That description and the commission’s relationship with
the public came under fire at meetings' end.
Chuck Turchick, a frequent presence at meetings of the
Civilian Police Review Authority, tried to ask the commission how it will do
its work if it sees only summaries of each case and not the full details.
Turchick was cut off before he finished that sentence by commission chair
Andrea Brown, who said he had used up his two minutes. Brown had originally
suggested that the commission not hear from the public at all, but relented
after her fellow commission members urged that the public be allowed to address
the commission.
“This is very symbolic,” said Turchick as he walked back
to his seat. “You have about two or three people appear at the meeting to make
comments and you limit it to two minutes.”
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