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Commission agrees to police commission redline that replaces 'shall' with 'may' for complaint handling
Summary
The commission reviewed police commission proposed charter edits that replace 'shall' with 'may' for handling citizen complaints and remove the word 'investigations' to reflect that the police commission reviews files rather than conducts door‑to‑door investigations; commissioners said the commission must update its MOU and publish its complaint policy.
The Charter Revision Commission reviewed and discussed edits proposed by the Police Commission to section 6‑14 of the Simsbury charter on Nov. 13. The police commission’s draft removes the word "investigations" and replaces the mandatory term "shall" with the permissive "may" when referencing the commission’s handling of citizen complaints.
Commission members and police commission representatives present said the change better reflects current practice: the commission reviews complaint files and policy rather than performing field investigations. "They're not knocking on doors and asking the questions; they are reviewing those files," Chair (S1) summarized when describing the suggested edits and the published three‑page citizen complaint policy.
Several commissioners pressed for safeguards to ensure public accountability. The police commission agreed to add a biannual review of its procedures and to revise its memorandum of understanding (MOU) to align citations if charter sections change after a referendum. "That MOU will have to get revised if the charter gets revised," the chair said.
The commission asked staff to post the police commission’s highlighted proposal on the Charter Revision Commission web page for public comment and to circulate the final redline language to commissioners prior to the next meeting.
