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County executive’s ordinance would shift Police Accountability Board chair appointment, tighten training and add public-safety responses to reports
Summary
The New Castle County executive office proposed Ordinance 26-002 to move appointment of the Police Accountability Board chair to the county executive, require 20 hours of community training (with Citizen Police Academy satisfying that requirement), limit law-enforcement affiliations among board members, and add the Department of Public Safety’s response to the board’s annual report; councilmembers raised procedural and timing concerns.
The New Castle County Council’s Public Safety Committee reviewed Ordinance 26-002, a draft from the county executive’s office that would change how the Police Accountability Board is constituted and how it reports to county government. Chair Brandon Toole said the measure "has come from the executive's office." Assistant county attorney Lisa Minutola said the ordinance keeps the annual report required by county code while allowing the board to submit interim recommendations so council would not have to wait a year to receive important updates.
Why it matters: Council members said the changes could affect the board’s independence and the timeliness of information reaching the council. The ordinance would give the county executive the authority to appoint the board chair, add limits on current or former law-enforcement officers (and some family members) serving on the board to broaden membership, and specify that the board’s initial community-training requirement is 20 hours. Art Lee of the executive’s office told the committee that "if they attend the Citizen Police Academy, that will complete the 20 hours of training" but that the county police could also provide equivalent training.
What council questioned: Members asked whether adding "the Department of Public Safety's response" to the annual report requirement would delay the council’s receipt of the board’s report. Colonel Leonard, speaking remotely as the public-safety representative, said the added language "did not preclude the submissions of the report" and that the department’s practice has been to include responses in the packet; he acknowledged delays in the past but emphasized the intent to provide a complete packet. Council co-chair Kevin Koneko said he and others had not yet heard from the board’s chair and co-chair about the draft and reserved the right to propose floor amendments; he also pressed for clarity on whether the 20-hour training must be the Citizen Police Academy or could be otherwise satisfied. Minutola advised that while county code requires an annual report, the ordinance’s language was meant to allow additional reports throughout the year and to ensure a public‑safety response is included in the annual packet.
Dissent and context: Councilman Street criticized the process and cautioned changes should not undermine the independent role volunteers expected when they joined the board: "The accountability board supposed to be basically somewhat independent." Other members suggested inserting a qualifier such as "if available" after the Department of Public Safety response to avoid tying report delivery to a completed departmental response.
Next step: The ordinance was presented for discussion and will return for possible amendments before a vote at a later meeting. No formal vote on Ordinance 26-002 occurred at this session.
