Pubdate: Sat, 03 Jan 2004 Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Copyright: 2004 Ledger-Enquirer Contact: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237 Author: S. Thorne Harper Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/kenneth+walker CITY ONCE HAD OVERSIGHT PANELS Groups Handled Public Safety Personnel Gripes Addressing tensions stemming from the shooting of Kenneth B. Walker by a Muscogee County sheriff's deputy, a group of local elected officials called Friday for the formation of an independent "Citizens' Review Commission" to scrutinize operations of the city's law enforcement. This is nothing new to Columbus. There have been variations of law enforcement oversight committees in the city's recent history. In the late 1960s, at a time of racial upheaval and corruption within the Columbus Police Department, the Board of Public Safety handled all grievances associated with hiring, firing and promotion of police officers and firefighters. It was marred by political in-fighting and complaints by city officials that it usurped the authority of the city's mayor and police chief. The Board of Public Safety was dissolved following the city-county consolidation in 1971. The Police Hearing Board took its place. Made up of four police officers, the city's public safety director and two civilians from outside the police department, its powers were significantly reduced from its predecessor's. Basically limited to reviewing only appeals of disciplinary actions, the new board lacked subpoena power and was therefore unable to coerce witnesses to testify at its hearings. At the urging of a Muscogee County grand jury, the city's chamber of commerce, and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Columbus Council voted to close the racially polarized Police Hearing Board only eight months after it held its first hearing. "The history will show that the toughest suspensions have gone out to black officers," board member Leonard Leavell said at the time, complaining about racially-motivated decisions by the board. The police chief assumed authority to discipline the department's officers, who had the right to appeal those decisions to a newly created Personnel Review Board. That system more or less exists to this day. However, another independent police oversight committee did exist briefly in the early 1980s, formed after an African-American man was shot to death by police under questionable circumstances. Eli Gardner, who served on the Community Relations Board, said it "petered out" because it lacked authority to enforce its decisions. "It never did anything," said Gardner, a retired Army colonel with 27 years military police experience. "The board didn't have any teeth and people just stopped attending." The Muscogee County Coalition did not provide details of the kind of review commission it wanted. Mayor Bob Poydasheff reacted coolly to the idea of a citizens' review commission, saying the city council already serves that role. "I'd like to read what their recommendations are," Poydasheff said, "but insofar as I'm concerned, as director of public safety over the police department, you already have a civilian review board in the form of the mayor, working closely with the city manager and city council. But more importantly, any citizen that feels aggrieved has the right to come before council." Gardner supports the proposal of an independent commission, but said it needs sweeping powers -- including the power to subpoena -- and it must not limit itself to law enforcement issues. "You need a review board to look at not only police, but unfair hiring practices and poor housing," Gardner said. "You have to go in considering that this is a divided community. We should be considering how to un -divide it." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin