[poll id=”5″]
The Greensboro City Council adopted the following changes to the complaint review committee last week. Vote, and then leave us a comment telling us why.
From the city:
“The committee’s recommendations, adopted by City Council, include:
· Each City Council member will make a direct appointment to the PCRB*;
· Expand the board from a seven to nine member panel*;
· Change the name to Police Citizens Review Board (PCRB);
· Remove the PCRB from the direction of the Human Relations Commission*;
· Change the meeting times to weekday evenings;
· Host meetings at locations throughout the City;
· Allow complaints against the Greensboro Police Department to be accepted by the PCRB in-person at board meetings, via mail, online, and by phone call;
· Enhanced training will be required of all board members;
· Use of independent facilitators will be recommended;
· Greater marketing and outreach of PCRB processes and services will be implemented.
*-Changes to the appointment and structure of the PCRB require an ordinance change and will be brought to future City Council meetings for public discussion and adoption.”
Any review board that lacks subpoena power is, in essence, toothless and the City knows it. Moreover, there should be a better and more equitable selection process for who sits on the review board than the whims of City Council members themselves. For a Citizen’s Review Board of the police to have real value to our city it must be independent of political pressure and have fully vested subpoena power – outside of that this move by the City is little more than window dressing.
You got that right, III–delay, delay, delay, while the rich and government play.