City Council orders review of police internal affairs
Published Feb. 9, 2007
Acting on the request of the Columbia City Council, the Columbia Police Department commissioned a research team to review its internal affairs process and recommend changes and improvements, a police news release stated.
The team, led by Aaron Thompson, Eastern Kentucky University associate vice president for university programs, will submit its report with several recommendations to the City Council.
Thompson said he has been working with police departments, including the Columbia Police Department, for 10 years.
Thompson specializes in sociology, but his team includes former police officers that moved up the ranks from officers all the way to chief of police.
Thompson said the former police officers are experts in community police.
"I brought a holistic group that could understand it all the way up," he said.
The team's research included reviewing police files and interviewing the department's command staff, Thompson said.
"We're going to look at officer reviews at all levels," he said. "We've looked at complaints. We've looked at use of force at every level. We're looking at Tasers."
Thompson said the study is limited to internal affairs, but it isn't only an examination of the department's disciplinary process.
"We're also looking at officers' needs and rights," he said.
Thompson spent two days at the police department conducting interviews, but he is continuing his review through e-mail interviews, which he said are still coming in.
Thompson said he hopes to finish the research by Feb. 15. The report will be submitted to the City Council by mid-March.
"Obviously, we can't implement anything ourselves," Thompson said. "But we can give them recommendations to enhance what they've got going or implement something new."
The release stated that community members interested in contributing to the study should contact Thompson by Feb. 12, but he said he hasn't spoken to anyone outside of the department.