Fort Worth council member describes what a citizen police review board may look like
City Council member Chris Nettles outlined what he believes a citizen police review board will look like during a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce event Thursday.
Nettles indicated to the audience of about 20 people that the council would take up the issue at its next work session April 19. He said the same thing last week during a radio show.
On Friday, a city spokeswoman said in an email to the Star-Telegram that “a final proposal has not been reached and there is not a plan to present a proposal to the Council in the month of April.” She said that the city staff is still working on details of a proposal and that some stakeholders would also weigh in.
In an interview later Friday, Nettles said he still believes the issue will come before council this month.
During his speech Thursday, Nettles said he believed the citizen review board will have 15 members appointed by the council and will step in to review what Nettles called “high profile cases” of alleged police misconduct. Nettles referenced Jacqueline Craig and Atatiana Jefferson as examples of cases the panel would address.
The board would be able to review the evidence and make recommendations to Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes as to how to respond to the incident, Nettles said. The panel would not have the power to compel the chief to act, and the chief would have final discretion over any disciplinary actions.
The board’s focus would be on violations of Police Department policy and procedures. Its findings would be made available to the public, which Nettles said would promote the kind of transparency necessary to establish a stronger relationship between the community and the police.
“It’s not going to the issue 100%, but I truly believe it will give a little bit more transparency, and that’s what we want as a community,” Nettles said Thursday.
The city’s race and culture task force recommended creating the panel in 2018. The city created its office of the police oversight monitor in January 2020, which has been developing a recommendation for the council on the makeup of a potential oversight board.
Nettles did not say whether residents with a felony arrest record would be eligible to serve on the board. That’s not standard practice for other oversight boards across the country, police monitor Kim Neal told the Star-Telegram in September 2021.
Both Nettles and Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens, in an October 2021 council work session, raised the issue of wrongful convictions potentially keeping otherwise qualified applicants off the review board.
“Things are not always what the records show,” Bivens said during the October meeting.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 7:46 PM.
.jpg)