Citizen Police Review Board yet to receive complaints
The board opened in January and will handle citizen complaints.
Published March 2, 2010
The Citizens Police Review Board has not received any complaints from citizens because the board has only been open for two months, Chairwoman Ellen LoCurto-Martinez said.
Citizens can only appeal to the review board after the chief of police has made a decision as to whether there was police misconduct, LoCurto-Martinez said. If the citizen disagrees with the chief's decision, he or she may file a complaint with the board.
Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden said investigations should take CPD's Internal Affairs Unit around 35 days to complete, though cases of officer misconduct might take closer to two months.
Haden said she was not surprised the board had not yet received any complaints. Most citizens are satisfied with the CPD's investigations, and few cases are of high enough stature to be reviewed by the board, she said.
"People probably think we receive more complaints than we actually do," Haden said.
Review board member John McClure said the board couldn't review incidents from before Jan. 1 of this year, which might be the cause for the lack of complaints.
"Maybe everyone is happy with the police department, and there aren't any complaints, but it's more likely that (it's because) we can't look through anything that happened prior to Jan. 1," McClure said. "I think there have been some initial inquiries about concerns that happened prior to Jan. 1, and we can't address those."
Forms for filing complaints are being prepared and should become available within the next week or two, LoCurto-Martinez said. For now, citizens can file complaints by writing a letter to the city clerk or submitting it online at the citizen review board's page on Columbia's Web site. They can also send it personally to LoCurto-Martinez, whose address is listed on the site.
Board member Betty Wilson said the review board also hopes to educate citizens about the process for registering complaints.
"Right now we're focusing on getting literature out and setting up a dialogue with various segments of the community," she said.
The citizen review board's Community Outreach Committee is planning meetings with community organizations such as the Boone County Bar Association, local churches and schools. A question-and-answer forum at MU is also being discussed, Wilson said.
Board members are training with CPD and organizations outside the police department, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, McClure said. The training has included meetings with a local defense attorney, Boone County's prosecuting attorney and the head of the CPD Internal Affairs Unit.
All board members have accompanied police officers on patrol and participated in simulations at CPD's training center in order to better understand officers' experiences, LoCurto-Martinez said.
The board is authorized to pursue its own investigation of a case once a complaint is filed with them, Wilson said. The board may call witnesses, review accumulated evidence and collect evidence. The board then makes its own decision as to whether there was improper handling of law enforcement action.
