PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia voters approved creation of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission two and a half years ago but it’s still not up and running at full capacity.
The Oversight Commission was proposed in the wake of racial justice protests in 2020 to replace the Police Advisory Commission, which was seen as toothless against alleged police misconduct. The new commission would have subpoena power and investigators to check out citizens' complaints.
But it took two full years just to name the commissioners and it’s taken more than another full year to hire staff and name a director.
In the meantime, the Advisory Commission has gone away so no one is hearing citizens’ complaints about police. The author of the bill creating the commission, Curtis Jones, says he expected the gap.
“We’ve been a little lucky because we have not faced what other cities are facing when it comes to these conflicts between police and community, between police and suspects.”
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Jahlee Hatchett, commission chairman, says the commission is actively taking complaints and hiring so he hopes to be fully operational soon.
“We’re getting there,” Hatchett said. “We’re not where we want to be, but it’s a process.