PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) has a history of bickering, but the consequences could get a lot steeper under a bill introduced into City Council last month that would allow members to remove each other.
The bill’s sponsor, Curtis Jones, also sponsored the original legislation that created CPOC three years ago and gave council alone the power to remove a commissioner. Jones said last week he’d reconsidered that provision.
“We don’t want that responsibility all of the time,” Jones said. “We want them to be able to self-determine [so] in cases of controversy or issue, they have a remedy to remove one of their own.”
Jones declined to say what prompted the change of heart, but several sources said one of the commissioners sent confidential commission documents to her personal email and shared them with others outside CPOC.
That is the sort of infraction that would be grounds for removal under Jones’ bill, as would almost anything the commissioners decided. The new bill expands the causes by adding the phrase “but not limited to” to misconduct, violating the law, or failure to perform duties. It also adds an option for suspending a commissioner.
That could be a risky power to give a commission, which has been marked by infighting and grievances, leaving a third of its seats empty.
Nine commissioners were appointed in 2022 after a lengthy process, but three of them resigned a year later. One cited “a toxic environment.” Those seats have never been filled.
Commission chair Jahlee Hatchett’s term expired on April 28. He said he does not want another term, though he will stay until a successor is named.
Jones said a nominating panel is in place to fill the four vacancies but does not yet have any names to consider. “We’ll be moving on that shortly,” he said.
Jones proposed CPOC at the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests to replace the Police Advisory Board, which investigated complaints against police officers but had little power. Council gave CPOC subpoena power and access to internal police investigations.
However, commission members never coalesced, and some were often at odds with CPOC staff, creating challenges as the staff sought to give shape to the new entity.
Still, Anthony Erace, who has been interim executive director since CPOC’s inception, said he is proud of what the staff has accomplished.
“We are now present at all officer-involved shootings that occur in Philadelphia,” he said. “Being embedded with the shooting team in real-time, responding in real-time, are reforms that are unprecedented in the history of oversight in the city of Philadelphia, and we’re very proud of them.”
Erace credited the Philadelphia Police Department’s cooperation. “Working together has been an incredible service to the public for transparency and accountability,” he added.
CPOC investigators were among the first on the scene when Officer Mark Dial fatally shot driver Eddie Irizarry in Kensington last August. Police initially said Irizarry was outside of his car and lunged at police before being killed. Some long-time observers of police procedure give CPOC credit for the speed with which police corrected that account, acknowledging that body cam footage showed Irizarry still inside his car. Dial has been charged with murder in the case.
CPOC staff have been less successful at investigating misconduct complaints, facing opposition from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Erace agrees that CPOC’s ability to conduct those investigations must be negotiated with the FOP. He hopes it will be part of next year’s contract talks.
“The future looks bright for investigations and everything else CPOC has been doing,” he said. “We’ve accomplished an incredible amount in the last three years, and what we’re doing now is building out our investigative capacity in ways that show our value and professionalism.”
Despite Erace’s progress, the commissioners refused to consider him for the permanent job. After a two-year search, they selected Tonya McClary, who held a similar job in Dallas, Texas. She begins on May 13.