Atlanta Police Want Review Civilian Review Board’s Procedures Changed
Some fear move would ‘defang’ new oversight committee
By Tim Eberly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
December 9, 2008
Atlanta police are pushing for changes to the city’s new police oversight system that some say would turn the long-awaited and brand-new Citizen Review Board into a toothless “paper tiger.” The Atlanta Police Department, with the help of the city’s Law Department, introduced legislation Tuesday to amend city law regarding how the Citizen Review Board investigates complaints about Atlanta’s law enforcement officers.
The proposed change comes just as the review board has begun its work. Created in the wake of an illegal police shooting which killed an innocent 92 year-old black woman, the board was intended to restore the public’s trust in the police department. The city law recently enacted to create the review board gives the board “full access” to police reports and documents.
Police officials are asking the city to allow them to only turn over documents and information that are public record, which is minimal when an investigation is ongoing. If the change is approved, it would essentially allow the police department to withhold most information from the Citizen Review Board until after the department conducts its own investigation.
Those on both sides of the issue attended the city’s Public Safety Committee meeting, including Lane Hagin, the police major who heads the internal affairs unit and spearheaded the effort. No police officials spoke, but state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) and the review board’s secretary, Rod Edmond, addressed City Council members, both voicing their opposition to the amendment. “In effect, it would defang the Citizen Review Board and make it nothing more than a paper tiger,” Fort said.
Edmond described the amendment as “ridiculous” and “insulting.” He compared the review board to referees for sporting events and said that, if the amendment passes, board members would be like referees trying to do their job blindfolded. Hagin said he and the department are pushing for the changes because they fear that the Review Board doesn’t have the experience or the resources to conduct investigations. Investigations are fluid and constantly changing, he said, and the department worries that turning over police reports early would cause the review board to rush to judgment before knowing all the facts, Hagin said. “For us, I think it’s better if we do our investigation in a reasonable period of time and then turn it over to them,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think the board is going to be impressed with the kind of work [the internal affairs unit] does.”
The four City Council members who attended the committee meeting didn’t offer an opinion on the proposed legislation. Council member C.T. Martin said that he’d heard that some frustrated board members were considering stepping down and encouraged them not to do so. “Just tell them to, please, stay in place,” Martin told Edmond. “I want them to have faith in the process.”
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