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Council committee approves temporary expansion of civilian pool for police review panels
Summary
The Public Health and Safety Committee approved an ordinance amendment allowing trained civil rights commissioners to serve temporarily on Community Commission on Police Oversight review panels to speed processing of a backlog of cases; the expansion expires Dec. 31, 2025.
The Public Health and Safety Committee on March 19 approved an ordinance amendment to allow trained civil rights commissioners to serve temporarily on the Community Commission on Police Oversight’s (CCPO) review panels, a change officials said is intended to help clear a backlog of complaints.
City Clerk Casey Carl told the committee the amendment would temporarily expand the pool of eligible civilians assigned to the five-member review panels that make recommendations on alleged police misconduct. “This proposal . . . provides for a temporary expansion in the pool of eligible civilians to serve on the review panels,” Carl said.
The change authorizes assigning trained civil rights commissioners to panels alongside CCPO commissioners and sworn officers, Carl said, provided the civil rights commissioners complete required training and meet the ordinance qualifications. Carl said the city currently has about 202 backlog cases that must be processed through review panels. “That requires more qualified and trained civilians to be available to serve on these review panels beyond the 15 commissioners on the CCPO today,” Carl said.
Council President Andrea Payne said the amendment is intended as a temporary, targeted fix while the council develops broader reforms. “The main goal is to work through the backlog,” Payne said, adding that longer-term amendments are forthcoming to change panel membership and staffing so the CCPO can manage case throughput without the temporary expansion.
Chair Jason Chavez moved approval of the ordinance amendment; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The ordinance includes an automatic expiration provision that ends the temporary assignment authority on Dec. 31, 2025.
Committee discussion focused on the need to accelerate panel scheduling and training to process older complaints while staff continue work to redesign permanent panel membership and scheduling. Clerk Carl said the civil rights department supports the temporary expansion and will manage cross-assignment with the CCPO to increase the number of monthly review panels through the remainder of the fiscal year.
The committee closed the public hearing after no members of the public signed up to comment and then voted to adopt the amendment. The clerk and staff said they expect additional, more comprehensive legislative amendments later this year to address panel capacity and membership on a longer-term basis.
