Columbia Police discuss transparency

By Mary Daly

Published Feb. 8, 2008

Two representatives from the Columbia Police Department spoke at a Citizen Oversight Committee meeting on Thursday to discuss the department’s methods for releasing information to the public.

The committee meets every two weeks. It will determine whether Columbia needs a citizen review board, which would be a third-party organization to referee relations between CPD and the public.

Columbia Police Capt. Mike Martin and Sgt. John White took turns talking about the department’s process to deal with investigations and what changes will be implemented by April 1.

“The current process needs to be changed in order to produce a process and outcome that both officers and citizens can respect and feel is fair and honest,” Martin said.

They said the department realizes it needs to be more transparent when releasing information to satisfy the community’s interest in the outcomes of investigations.

“We’re hoping we can get more information out to the public as well as the officers,” Martin said.

Within the department, officers feel the system causes discrepancies between coworkers because officers in the same position do not always receive identical treatment, Martin and White said.

“It just fuels the rumor mill when one officer is punished and another isn’t and no one knows why,” White said.

The officers said citizens feel like their complaints are often ignored by the system because they don’t have personal interaction with investigators or a follow-up process for complaint reports.

“There’s no transparency in the process,” committee chairman Rex Campbell said.

The police officers said the department plans to solve their lack of candor by enacting an employee recognition plan, more stern disciplinary actions, mandatory reviews and internal investigations.

They said the department stresses the importance of recognizing compliments from community members as much as complaints.

“We want to recognize our officers’ good work just as much as the bad,” White said. “Hopefully this will cause our cops to see the benefits of a more transparent police department.”

The department also plans to streamline their process of conducting and reporting investigations of cases that include use of force.

“In our line of work sometimes people get hurt, and it’s not because we’re trying to hurt them,” Martin said. “We can’t document it every time we give someone a bruise.”

A use of force is defined as use of tasers, pepper spray, batons, strikes and any other instruments that cause injury, they said.

Members of the Citizen Police Oversight Committee said they agree that police cannot possibly investigate and report all offenses.

The committee’s mission is to make sure that citizen complaints against Columbia Police officers are investigated thoroughly, completely and fairly from the citizen’s and the police’s point of view.

The committee’s members are to thoroughly study the department’s procedure for how citizens submit the complaint and how the department processes and responds to it.

Once the research is complete, the committee will make a recommendation to the Columbia City Council for or against a citizen review board that is unbiased, well-researched and meets the mission of the committee.

The Citizen Oversight Committee has two meetings per month until their estimated date for completion of September 2008. The next meeting will be Feb. 21.