Black Voice News

By Mary Shelton

What lies in store for Riverside's only form of civilian oversight over the police department, is a question that has been on the minds of many people.

On Wed, Feb. 12, members of the Community Police Review Commission met with City Manager George Carvalho and assistant City Manager Penny Culbreath-Graft to discuss its fate and its uncertain future.

Six community members who support or oppose the police commission listened as each commissioner relayed their concerns and questions to Carvalho.

One activist, Ray Lewis, discussed a presence in the room that no one could see, but everyone felt.

"There is an 800 pound gorilla in this room, the Riverside Police Association," Lewis said.

Lewis's comments reflected growing concern that the newly elected council including four members financially backed by the RPOA would vote to undo the ordinance which created the commission in March 2000. Currently, only three city council members, Dom Betro, Ameal Moore and Nancy Hart have vocalized support for the commission as being a necessary mechanism to build trust within the community towards the police department.

At least one council member said that the RPOA had approached and said that the commission was no longer needed nor wanted. In response, the RPOA was told that the commission was always meant to be for the community, not the department.

However, according to the city’s ordinance, the council would need at least five votes to dissolve the commission if Mayor Ron Loveridge chose to exercise his veto power during a vote. Loveridge created the Use of Force Panel in 1999, which recommended a series of reforms, including the creation of a citizen review board.

Although he has received past endorsements and contributions from the RPOA during his long tenure as mayor, community members hope Loveridge will defend the commission as a valued reform which arose from his own ad hoc task force.

Carvalho said that his office is "unequivocally" supportive of the commission.

"For the most part, we are in concert with each other," he said, adding that he has not heard complaints about the commission but noted the philosophical difference between the police officers and City Hall on this issue.

Culbreath-Graft who serves as the liaison between Carvalho's office and the commission said that her position has been challenging, and that it is easier for her to communicate with the department than with the commission. Her job, she said, is to make a decision on each complaint, sometimes with input from the City Attorney's office and to notice trends when they occur.

An example she offered, involved the use of digital audio recorders by officers which was mandated by the consent decree between the city and the state.

Culbreath-Graft said that she noticed on complaints that there were instances where officers had failed to abide by the policy that mandates the usage of recorders whenever officers initiate professional contacts with the public. Finally, she told the department that it was time for any "grace period" in connection to that policy to end and that it was time to exercise "zero tolerance" of failure by officers to use their recorders.

Several commissioners raised concerns about the diversity of the commission. After Bill Howe steps down in March, only one African-American and two Latinos will be left on the panel of nine. Five of its members are current or retired law enforcement officers, including the last four individuals selected by the city council.

Commissioner James Ward said that there are poor relations between the department and the community members, particularly those who are low-income or minorities and that there weren't too many people on the commission that represented those groups.

"The commission is more apt to review complaints from the police's point of view rather than a citizen's perspective," Ward said. "The police department has own representation and the community has no representation."

Other commissioners disagreed.

Jack Brewer said that the commission was there to represent everyone including the police.

Commissioner Gloria Huerta said that she welcomed opportunities to provide policy recommendations, saying that sometime the commission has to exonerate or not sustain a complaint because of how the policy is or is not written.

The strained relationship between the department and the communities it serves continues to underline discussion about the commission's future.

Carvalho said that State Attorney General Bill Lockyer had said that there was a "dysfunctional" relationship between the community and the police.

"That was a really poignant statement," he said.

The meeting which was part of a workshop series initially proposed by commissioners Bob Garcia and Ward is the first in a series that will take place through April 28. Future workshops include meetings with the City Attorney's Office, the police department and the RPOA president, Pat McCarthy.

Lewis and other activists made it clear that they are determined that the commission will have a future and that they are not going away.

"We are going to fight for this commission as we had to bring it into existence," he said