City Council members voted unanimously to forward seven recommendations from the Community Police Review Commission to the meet-and-confer negotiation process with the Richmond Police Officers Association. Councilmembers also unanimously adopted a requirement that new commission members complete at least eight hours of training within six months, covering implicit bias, best policing practices, procedural rights, and civil liberties. Proposed reforms include extending complaint filing deadlines to one year, lowering the standard of proof to preponderance of the evidence, broadening investigable complaint types, permitting anonymous complaints and redactions, granting subpoena power, and publishing non-confidential records online. The police union raised concerns about statewide mental health support.
Recommended changes meant to boost transparency for the Richmond Police Department will head to the negotiation table, sparking support from those grieving a recent police killing and pushback from the police union president who said the real issue is a lack of mental health support statewide. The city's Community Police Review Commission, a nine-member civilian oversight body formed in 1984, brought forward seven recommendations for the City Council to consider during a meeting Tuesday night.
The recommendations approved by the council Tuesday include extending the complaint filing period from 120 days to one year from when an incident occurs; changing the standard of review from clear and convincing evidence to preponderance of the evidence; expanding the types of complaints the commission can investigate and review; allowing for anonymous complaints to be filed and to redact complainants' and witnesses' names from public documents;
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