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Citizens Police Oversight Commission nears independent investigations authority, announces candidate slate
Summary
Tanya McClary, CPOC executive director, told Council the Citizens Police Oversight Commission has completed a lengthy selection process and is close to beginning administrative (non‑criminal) independent investigations; complaints to the office are up about 30 percent.
Tanya McClary, executive director of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC), told City Council the commission’s selection panel reviewed about 70 applications and will present a slate of five candidates to the Council for appointment. McClary said the panel completed nearly 100 hours of administrative support for the selection process.
She said CPOC is ‘‘on the precipice’’ of beginning independent administrative investigations and that staff have been working with the Office of Public Safety and the Labor Department to arrange testimony before an arbitration panel. McClary emphasized CPOC will not conduct criminal investigations, but rather administrative inquiries similar in scope to Internal Affairs: “We are handling administrative investigations, the same ones that internal affairs does,” she said.
Why it matters: McClary said complaints to CPOC have increased by roughly 30 percent as community members have begun bringing concerns to the office. She told Council that when CPOC cannot conduct investigations internally, some complainants withdraw their complaints rather than have them routed to Internal Affairs — a dynamic CPOC leaders argue undermines transparency and public trust.
Independent investigations and timing McClary told Council that the commission wants to begin conducting administrative investigations and that timelines for starting depend on finalizing processes and scheduling with labor arbitration. She said the office has been preparing its staffing and administrative protocols and asked Council for additional funding to support investigative capacity.
Appointments and oversight Councilman Jones and other members praised the selection process; McClary said the slate includes a mix of skills and at least one former law‑enforcement professional to provide inside perspective. The slate was described as ready to be presented to Council for confirmation at an upcoming meeting.
Ending McClary asked the Council to support CPOC’s funding request and to approve the appointment slate so that the commission can begin administrative investigations and absorb increased complaint volumes.
