Civilian oversight board met with skepticism
9th March 2015 · 0 Comments
Although grassroots organizations have been working to establish and civilian oversight panel to monitor the NOPD during implementation of the federally mandated consent decree and beyond, a move last week by the City of New Orleans officials to create such a panel is being met with suspicion and skepticism.
On Tuesday, the City of New Orleans and the NOPD announced its third open enrollment for Police Community Advisory Board (PCAB) membership. Open enrollment officially began on Sunday, March 1, 2015 for PCAB Advisory Groups across the city. Completed applications must be submitted by March 31, 2015.
The PCAB Advisory Group is a district-based participation structure that creates one advisory group per NOPD District (eight total). PCAB members serve a 24-month term. The advisory group does not have any decision-making authority, but does meet quarterly to achieve the following goals:
• Maintain a consistent partnership between the community and law enforcement;
• Serve to help reduce crime and enhance the quality of life for all citizens;
• Establish goals that can be accomplished through positive and open communications;
• Assist law enforcement in helping to maintain police standard for accountability;
• Create processes to help address issues of bias-based policing;
• Improve interaction between police and citizens through education and training; and
• Strengthen and ensure the application of equal protection under the law for all citizens.
PCAB is the framework for a public participation plan with the NOPD to engage in a collaborative problem-solving process that supports both the community and the police department. PCABs have the responsibility to vet community ideas/suggestions, work with NOPD to understand operations processes and challenges and build consensus on priority items important to the community before submitting recommendations to NOPD for consideration. PCABs also have the responsibility of assisting NOPD in recruitment efforts.
“Right off the bat I’m skeptical because the mayor has demonstrated that he doesn’t know how to fix the NOPD and has never been willing to allow others with more experience and/or insight into the problems of the NOPD to have a say, whether you’re talking about the selection of a police chief or efforts to find a way to bring more accountability and transparency to the police department,” the Rev. Raymond Brown, a community activist and president of National Action Now, told The Louisiana weekly. “This just seems like another ploy to convince residents that the mayor wants input from the community.
“What the mayor wants from residents is the same thing he demands from those who work in his administration — blind allegiance and a willingness to accept whatever the mayor tells them as the gospel truth.”
W.C. Johnson, a member of Community United for Change and host of local cable-access show “OurStory,” also expressed a lack of faith in last week’s announcement about a new community oversight board.
He said the problem in part is that the mayor’s version of a community panel and the board community leaders envisioned are like “night and day.”
“Community oversight has power to make changes where a community advisory board is a ‘blue ribbon’ board that is only called upon to make the politicians look good,” Johnson told The Louisiana Weekly. “It truly is a waste of everyone’s time and energy.”
Johnson said the community oversight board isn’t the first time the Landrieu administration has initially rejected an idea proposed to improve the NOPD only to turn around and utilize a “watered-down version” of the same idea.
To support his claim, Johnson pointed to the Landrieu administration’s initially rejection of Community United for Change’s recommendation that all police cars utilize both audio and video recording devices. The NOPD later agreed to utilize body cameras but has had a difficult time convincing officers to keep the body cameras turned on.
One such incident during which an officer turned off the body camera resulted in a suspect being shot in the head by the arresting officer.
After the incident went unreported to the public for two days, then NOPD Supt. Ronal Serpas unexpectedly announced his retirement.
Membership to the mayor’s board is open to all residents in the city of New Orleans who are 18 years or older and interested in serving as a volunteer leader in their respective police district. Applications for selection can be found online at www.nola.go/neo/pcab or may be picked up at the Neighborhood Engagement Office at City Hall or any NOPD Station.
Completed applications may be submitted online, emailed to neighborhoods@nola.gov or returned to any NOPD station by March 31, 2015.
“What you’re going to see is a lot of the same old hand-picked Negroes that get chosen for the MLK committee, the NORD Commission and a bunch of other committees and boards getting tapped to fill this committee,” Brown told The Louisiana Weekly. “It’s all one big dog-and-pony show and we’re not supposed to notice that the mayor and the business community are using these appointments to reward loyal Negroes for their commitment to maintaining the status quo. Nothing is going to change because there will be no independent action, transparency or accountability.”
This article originally published in the March 9, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
