Jackson Free Press

The Jackson City Council may decide today whether to institute a civilian review process for the Jackson Police Department. Long a pet item for Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, a proposal for a civilian oversight of police complaints passed the Planning Committee yesterday. Stokes and Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber voted for the measure, while Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman abstained

Stokes' measure would appoint one civilian in each of the city's wards to review police practices and procedures and to review complaints against the department. That model differs slightly from other proposals, such as an independent police auditor's position or a centralized civilian review board. Advocacy groups like the Mississippi ACLU and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement have pushed for a civilian review board. At a January hearing on the proposal, Stokes expressed concern that the city move forward with some model."We don't want this to take another two years; we want this to be done," Stokes said.

Also appearing at the hearing was Phil Eure, director of the District of Columbia's Office of Police Complaints and former president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. Eure told Stokes and community members that no single model of oversight works best for all cities but some form of oversight is becoming increasingly common across the country.

"This is really a growing movement," Eure said at the January hearing. "Most large cities with a population more than 500,000 people have some form of civilian oversight. What we're now seeing is the second generation, where you have cities of Jackson's size and cities as small as 10,000 people that have civilian oversight."

JPD Assistant Chief Lee Vance said at the hearing that the city's Civil Service Commission already performed many of the functions of a civilian review board. The Civil Service Commission, which is comprised of civilians appointed by the mayor, does not investigate complaints against police, however. Instead, it reviews disciplinary decisions by the department's internal affairs division.

While forms of civilian oversight are becoming more common in cities of Jackson's size, they are still scarce in the South, especially in Mississippi. No other cities in the state have a civilian review board or a similar agency, Eure said at the January hearing.

"This is an opportunity for Jackson to take a bold step forward," Eure said.

Previous Comments

ID

156238

Comment

Can Lee Vance really not understand why the Civil Service Commission is different? He must be a secret supporter of civilian oversight, the way he's giving the council this irresistible strawman to knock down.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-02-23T14:12:24-06:00