Police advisory panel named
Write a letter to the editor
A year after calls for more police oversight following several incidents involving police officers and pedestrians in crosswalks, City Council announced appointments to the Charlottesville Police Advisory Panel at last night’s meeting. The nine-member panel— which includes City Councilor and former Charlottesville Fire Chief Julian Taliaferro— will primarily act to improve community relations between the department and the public. The panel will not, Police Chief Tim Longo has repeatedly asserted, be involved in any type of investigations or matters of intradepartment discipline.
Who are the other appointees?
I think on is Steve “sick of the local rambos” shifflett
I haven’t posted in this topic. Well, until just now of course.
Hope everybody enjoys the dog and pony show here on The Hook, doesn’t look like the fool is going to let up on pretending to be me anytime soon. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. To imitate someone is to pay the person a genuine compliment—often an unintended compliment. Thank You.
Is it Sick1 or Sick2 that’s being outed?
CVille, does it really matter? Ya know, now that I think about this thing, this dog and pony show is how rookie cops act when they feel somebody has stepped on their toes.
Wanna see how they act when they think nobody is watching or listening? Be forewarned, these videos shows racism is alive and well in law enforcement…
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7e4_1223130840
and
http://www.wjbf.com/jbf/news/state_regional/georgia/article/offensive_patrol_car_recording_released/7275/
Let me get this straight, a Shifflett is involved in goings-on in the Charlottesville area? Shocking.
WestBerkeleyFlats, yes, many Shiffletts have contributed a great deal to the well-being of central Va particularly as police officer, fireman, medical personnel, bankers, businessmen, etc.
quote: “This is really getting uncool! Two more people using my screen name without my permission. My name isn’t Shifflet, and it isn’t even Steve. A lot of people here know who I am and any of them can tell you that.
Neither of those posters above are really me, and I’m getting more than a little steamed at all of this!! Stop it!! Stop it!! Stop it NOW!!!!!”
Once again, nice try, but not the real Sick Of The Local Rambos talking.
I sure have upset a few peope to make them act like this. :)
Now the topic can proceed without all the disruptions, I can’t imagine how anybody ever thought the police chief was going to let them step in and regulate his department. This panel is absolutely useless and will fall by the wayside. Just like the panel in Albemarle County did.
The only proper place for a group of civilians to judge the actions of police officers is in a jury trial after the officers are sued for wrongful actions.
The question is why did the first citizens advisory committee stop meeting in the nineties? If the leaders had bothered to answer that question, maybe they wouldn’t have formed this committee to serve as community educators for the police department.
I don’t recall the first advisory committee in the 90s. The Albemarle coppies had one, but did the city?
By 2015 we will have forgotten about this most recent committee being appointed as well.
The City’s Elected Leaders Select A Police Advisory Panel
The City Council has chosen one of its members and nine local residents for its new Police Advisory Panel. Vice-Mayor Julian Taliaferro represents the council on the new panel, which expects to meet regularly with Police Chief Tim Longo. The citizen members include Ida Lewis (pictured), George Harry Benford, Jean Chase, John Racine, Lehman Bates II, Glenn Rust, David Edward Simmons II, Mark Gruber, and Quinton Harrell. Chief Longo retains the right to hire, fire, promote, or demote the department’s personnel.
Thanks, AA. Sick, yes there was one but I think they just stopped meeting without being dissolved.
If I recall correctly, the early 90s would have been Chief John Wolford. And the late 90s would have been Rittenhouse. I can imagine Wolford would accept constructive criticism from an advisory panel. But I doubt Rittenhouse could have cared less what any advisory panel would have to say about anything.
I can’t recall who was resposible for improperly making the above mentioned former deputy sheriff Ida Lewis retire. I am glad to see Ida on the panel. She knows some of the foolishness that goes on in local law enforcement. And it was pretty comical to have watched Ida sue to get her job back. She was awarded her job back, back pay and benefis.
The Charlottesville Police Advisory Panel, as described, is not true civilian oversight of law enforcement.
Without true civilian oversight, all that remains is self-policing.
With self-policing, because of police culture, there is still too much room for police misconduct to remain unchecked even in the best of police departments.
Self-policing does not work.
It does not work with young children. If you think it does, try leaving a roomful of kids alone and telling them, “You kids behave now, ok?” Try it with a room full of teenagers and watch what happens.
It does not work with society. “All you citizens out there, we won’t have any police from now on so you all be good. Obey the speed limits and give yourself a ticket if you go over, ok?”
It does not work on Wall Street. “You lenders and big corporations, we don’t have anything in place to watch over you so make sure you behave properly with finances and don’t get our economy in a bind. See to it yourselves, ok?”
It doesn’t work with government leaders. “You government leaders, we don’t have time to watch over you and verify all that you say is true, so please look out for our best interests, ok?”
And it does not work with police departments.
Yes, there are ethical police officers striving to serve the public but the opposite is also true.
Police culture is strong and for many reasons it does not allow for effective self-policing. For true public safety, there must be true civilian oversight. KM
If the public is too lazy to pay attention to what 5 councilors are doing, is it reasonable to think that a handful of citizens will be able to keep track of what 110 police officers are doing? Who’s keeping track of the people with over-sight? Do they get away with drunk driving, spousal abuse, or petty larceny because the people that they are supposed to be overseeing are afraid of retribution?
None of it will work without transparency.
When allegations of misconduct are brought forward, the public has to know not just the allegations and final results of the investigation, but all the information, the specific details, which led to the final determination. If law enforcement can hide those details it leaves room for tolerating misconduct.
Some jurisdictions allow for the complete public release of internal investigations once they are completed. That is an effective tool in keeping misconduct in check. If internal investigation records are not allowed in a particular locality or state, then laws need to change.
Often it is only when incidents of misconduct are made public that they are legitimately addressed. Today’s easily available technology proves that.
Do all citizens care? No.
Will there still be police abuse of authority? Yes, but there still needs to be complete transparency and accountability.
All the cards have to be out on the table. That’s the only way it has a chance to work.
“The previous panel was created in 1990, and disbanded on its own in 1997.” http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/crime/article/citizens_police_advisory_panel_set/29780/#When:02:37:00Z
I missed the article in The Daily Progress. But I now see where panel member Ida Lewis said she doesn’t believe the police department needs a panel to investigate complaints against it. This remark surprises me to say the least.
Ida Lewis also says she has no idea what the panels duties will be. Jean Chase says she isn’t exactly sure what the panel’s role will be. So who does know? To me the answer is nobody knows. I think the birth of the panel was nothing more than a bandaid to distract attention from the Silva/Austin and Mitchell events recently.
Kevin Cox says he believes the panel members are well-intentioned, but figures it eventually will fade away. And I think Kevin Cox has summed it up pretty well in 10 words or less.
The panel is useless, IMHO. The only effective method to hold any officer(s) accountable for their wrongful actions is through a civil lawsuit in the courts. It’s been this way for a long time, it won’t change anytime soon.
IMHO (I’m with you partially) civil lawsuits resulting from police abuse of authority are a very important component for police accountability.
One problem however - they are costly and difficult to pursue especially when a government entity foots the bill for the defendant. There is also the difficulty of the plaintiff obtaining evidence in such circumstances.
Adding insult to injury, after a civil suit resulting in judgment for a plaintiff, law enforcement agencies, at least occasionally, seem to keep the problem officers on board, sometimes even promoting them. Talk about furthering the problem…
Yea, civil suits are important, but something else is needed when allegations of abuse occur, even in “good” departments.
I’m with ya’ on, “It’s been this way for a long time, it won’t change anytime soon.”
No reason to give up though. :)