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it has been a long year of hard work for the members of the police civilian review board. they are holding their final meeting this morning before their terms expire tomorrow.
really really loving board member sarah burke’s “black lives built charlottesville” shirt & wondering where i can get one
meeting is now underway, starting with community input from jeff fogel, who got the most community support in the survey about board selection last year but was not appointed (likely due to personal hostility toward him from some councilmembers)
he thanks the board for their hard work & calls for a culture shift in policing. “they’re as dangerous as the ones who actually harm people,” jeff says of the ‘blue wall of silence,’ officers who refuse to speak up about misconduct by their colleagues.
“i feel like we proved something this year,” says board member josh bowers. they are a diverse group, both demographically and in life experience. they came together, learned from each other, and got something done.
bowers, who has worked as a public defender, says he was skeptical that “this could actually work,” knowing how problematic the entire institution is, but believes in the mission and work of the civilian review board.
“it was never about us - it’s for the people,” says ms gloria.
the board will vote momentarily to approve the bylaws they’ve written... then it’s up to the people to pressure council to adopt them.
the board will vote momentarily to approve the bylaws they’ve written... then it’s up to the people to pressure council to adopt them.
“people need to stop being scared to walk the streets in this city,” ms katrina says. she hopes a strong civilian review board will change the culture & allow people to feel safer coming forward with complaints about the police department.
“this was formed because of what happened in 2017,” ms katrina says, referring to the utter indifference from the police department as neonazis beat people in the streets. “we need this.”
ms rosia follows that with a call of “whose streets? our streets!” the same chant these two amazing women were shouting just moments before one of those neonazis nearly murdered them two years ago.
with last meeting’s minutes approved, we’re moving into the final approval of the bylaws. some edits have been made since the last meeting, which josh bowers is summarizing. they seem minor & mostly just clarifications.
it’s good and important to get this right but i will spare you the blow by blow of a law professor making edits to a document.
hell yeah baby we’re talking about consistently using roman numerals vs arabic numerals. this line by line edit at a last minute, eleventh hour, final day of the term meeting is a real thrill ride
they did it! the police civilian review board unanimously passed their freshly edited and finalized bylaws and proposed ordinance language!
guillermo says they’ve created “over 700 documents” over the past year and wants to ensure they’re properly archived by the city & everything remains accessible to anyone who wants to see them.
the terms of every member of the board expires tomorrow. the presentation of the bylaws to city council is tentatively set for august 5. no new board can be appointed until the bylaws are adopted & the ordinance is passed by council. we need public pressure to see this through.
their last act as a board is to approve the minutes of their final meeting.
and... that’s it. that concludes a year of work by this amazing group of dedicated volunteers.
and... that’s it. that concludes a year of work by this amazing group of dedicated volunteers.
it is such an honor & privilege to be a part of a community full of people like this, people fighting every day to build a better world. 
