Buffalo, NY (WBEN) After an arrest caught on video in May and a police incident during protests that went viral in June, an emergency meeting of the Buffalo Police Oversight Committee takes place this morning.
The meeting can't come soon enough for a battery of demonstrators that continues to march the streets of Buffalo. Demonstrators Wednesday evening filled Niagara Square and even marched to the home of Mayor Byron Brown to demand changes in the police department.
Erin Carman is looking for a new oversight model. "There are two parts to it, the first is the expansion of the existing advisory board model, to give it greater ability to review and make recommendations on policy reform, and the second is the creation of a more independent commission that would serve as an investigatory body," says Carman. Carman is also seeking reform in the use of force policy. "One is the amendment to the de-escalation requriement, there are a few areas we feel need to be discussed including expansion of the definition of reasonable for officers to make a decision using a more workable policy definition. We're looking at prioritizing alternatives to use of force in de-escalation and linking that with training. We're also looking to have a warning before shooting," says Carman.
Carman says she's been concerned since the Quentin Suttles incident in May when she called for an investigation. "We appreciate the mayor's steps including a ban on chokeholds and some great steps are in progress that have been implemented. There's a lot of public support for reform in the department and department culture," says Carman.
Common Councilmember David Rivera says some of his colleagues have questions as well. "They have questions regarding policies, procedures and protocol with how we deal with protests, the preparation and training for that," says Rivera. He says there are a number of recommendations made by the committee such as a citizens review board, where citizens can look at misconduct. "These are all recommendations at this point," adds Rivera.
As far as whether those recommendations can be adopted, Rivera says there are some legal issues. "Whether the recommnedations violated the contract between the city and the police union, and if it does not infringe on the mayor's powers. We have a strong form of mayor, and if we want to make changes, we either have to do an ordiance amendment or a referendum," explains Rivera. He says he'll consult with legal counsel to go over what can be changed by ordinance and what needs a referendum.
