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South Bend civilian review board reports 16 complaints in 2024, sets 2025 goal of faster case review and community outreach
Summary
Pastor Charles King III, director of the Citizens Police Review Board, told the Common Council on Feb. 24 that the board received 16 complaints in 2024, forwarded six to the South Bend Police Department, completed 226 hours of training and will pursue bylaws, public outreach and a 45‑day response goal in 2025.
Pastor Charles King III, director of the Citizens Police Review Board, presented the board's 2024 update to the South Bend Common Council on Feb. 24, saying the board received 16 complaints last year and forwarded six to the South Bend Police Department for further investigation.
King told the council the board did not resolve any cases in 2024 because members were completing mandatory training: "We didn't resolve any cases in 2024 because the board had mandatory training, and it was unable to adjudicate or to do any formal procedural reviews." He said board members have completed 226 collective hours of training and have begun ride‑alongs with the police department.
The board reported complaint counts by quarter: two in the first quarter, three in the second, eight in the third and three in the fourth. King described the demographic and complaint breakdown: "A little over 37% were African American ... White was about 50%" and the leading categories were procedural violations, use of force, property handling and allegations of biased policing.
King outlined 2025 objectives that he said will move the board from organizing to active case review: finalize operational bylaws; strengthen public engagement with a "mobile office Friday" program and multilingual materials; deliver policy recommendations to the police chief; and measure impact through data and surveys. He said the board joined a national oversight organization, Nicole, for ongoing training and is working with the Notre Dame Law School Clinic on collaboration.
On case processing, King said his goal for the board is faster responses than the police department's current 60‑day window: "My goal is 45 days to be able to respond to that person with an adjudication from the CPRB board so that they can have their questions answered." He described a catch‑up plan to present the 16 pending 2024 cases to the board in March and then to present them to adjudication in small batches rather than all at once.
Council members asked about the board's workload and training burden for volunteer members. King said the board will meet monthly (the ordinance requires quarterly meetings) and that board members would review cases in groups: "We'll break these up into 3 cases at a time segments ... so we'll do 3 cases at a time until we whittle through all of them." He also described ongoing community outreach: office hours at local restaurants, a planned clergy summit and youth engagement forums.
King emphasized the board's advisory role: "It is not our job to discipline police officers, but it is our job to make suggestions and to advise the police chief." He said the board will forward recommendations to the police chief after its adjudication process.
The presentation closed with King saying the board's online complaint portal is active, training continues, and the board expects a modestly larger budget and expanded activities in 2025.
