Overhauled Review Panel Would Get Details

A proposal for a revamped citizens review board would make it easier for members to review complaints of police misconduct.

Or so says the committee charged with overhauling the troubled Citizens Review Panel, which nearly capsized last fall when its own members questioned its relevance.

“Quite frankly, we were in the dark as to the details of complaints,” said Atara Clark, the review panel’s chairwoman and a committee member.

The proposal would replace the review board with the Citizens’ Review Commission, whose members would have access to entire complaint files, not just a synopsis.

This time around, members “will have a lot more information,” Clark said, referring to the foremost complaint among panel members.

Almost no one seemed happy with the review panel’s progress last fall.

Some complained it was too big to accomplish anything. Others said they had no authority and served merely as a research staff for the city. Still others said the police department was uncooperative.

Mayor Jack Geraghty appointed a committee to revamp the panel when it looked like it wouldn’t survive the controversy.

The City Council created the panel in 1992 to provide an independent review of residents’ complaints about police misconduct dismissed by Chief Terry Mangan as unmerited.

The new commission would be smaller than the old - seven members instead of 11 - and consist of one retired police officer, one retired judge or attorney and five Spokane residents. All members would be appointed by the mayor and must have lived in Spokane at least four years.

Under the new plan, Mangan would determine whether a complaint involves a question of police procedure or misconduct. Only misconduct complaints would be forwarded to the commission.

Commission members first would review an abbreviated complaint before deciding whether to have a hearing.

After a hearing, members could get access to the entire case file, but their review would be limited to the police department’s investigation of the complaint.

A complaint considered valid by the commission would be sent on to the Public Safety Committee, which would decide whether to forward the complaint to the full City Council.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington recently reviewed the proposal and said it’s a step in the right direction - just not a big enough step.

“It’s definitely better than the old one,” said Julia Schauble, the ACLU’s Spokane representative.

But the legal watchdog group’s written review says the proposed commission would still fall “far short of an independent body able to investigate citizen complaints.”

The ACLU would like to see all complaints forwarded to the commission, not just those involving misconduct.

“The proposed CRC should not be restricted from reviewing complaints involving procedure,” the ACLU said.

Right now, questions about department procedures are referred to the Police Advisory Board, a 30-member body appointed by Mangan.

The ACLU also would like the commission to have greater access to records than provided for in the new plan.

The council plans to take public testimony on the plan next week and vote in two weeks.