By: Meg Rossman BUFFALO, N.Y. —
Buffalo's Common Council unanimously reinstated a police oversight committee
Tuesday. This follows several recent incidents of alleged misconduct by Buffalo
police officers.
Following its reinstatement,
council discussed what the committee is not.
"It should not be a witch
hunt," said council member David Franczyk.
Council President Darius
Pridgen stressed it is not to regulate the department’s daily operations.
"This oversight committee
is not, as some have reported, overseeing day-to-day operations of a police
force."
Instead council members,
including committee chairman David Rivera, want the focus on what it will be.
"We're there to assist,
help through the legislative process. That's our goal as council members."
It's also to regain the
public's trust in the Buffalo Police Department after two incidents of alleged
police brutality in the last several weeks. Although they won't investigate
specific cases, they will review policies and look into sensitivity training to
make sure it doesn't happen again.
"Policies. Can you take a
cell phone from someone? Can you say give me your cell phone? Buffalo Police
Department, what is the policy? We want it clear," said Rivera.
Council member Michael LoCurto
says the goal is to eliminate future problems.
"Generally, the police are
doing a good job. But when there are incidents, we want to try to understand
why that happens and try to prevent it from happening again," LoCurto
said.
After a five-year hiatus, the
committee is also meant to mitigate the city's liability, because when
incidents happen, you pay for it.
"It's not uncommon that
we'll see claims from people against the city based on police actions,"
said LoCurto.
There is no word on who will
sit on the committee, but Rivera said members will be tough on police when it
comes to questioning. He said the public is welcome at their first meeting, but
asks that they remember one thing.
"We have a great Buffalo
Police Department, fine men and women who go out every single day and sometimes
a few of them, tarnish the image of the majority of them."
The police oversight committee
is set to meet some time the second week of June.