Those who have waited in vain for South Bend to establish a civilian review board might turn their attention to Indianapolis, which recently announced its intention to create such oversight.
Earlier this month, in the wake of two fatal police shootings, came the announcement of a proposal for a use-of-force review board that will include civilian participation —making it one of the last big cities to do so.
According to a story in the Indianapolis Star, the review board would include merit-ranked officers and civilians who are appointed by the police chief. The mayor, city-county council president and members of the police department would each be given one nomination.
Civilian appointees would go through training, including on the Indianapolis Metro Police Department’s general orders.
In a statement, the Fraternal Order of Police said it awaited the specifics of the proposal but was not opposed to civilian oversight.
What’s unclear is how many people would serve on the board, whether they would serve terms and for how long such terms would last.
Police departments across the county have varying levels of civilian oversight, and there is no one way to set up such a system.
A common goal is to increase trust between residents and police.
For years now, members of this community — activists, public officials, this editorial board — have advocated for a review board in South Bend. The idea has never taken hold, mostly because it has lacked mayoral support, past and present. That’s a shame, because it could create a more open process — one that might well exonerate officers as well as educate the public about some of the situations that the police face on a daily basis.
In the past, Mayor James Mueller has raised the possibility of creating a “community advisory board,” which would operate separately from the city’s Board of Public Safety, which handles officer discipline and whose members are appointed by the mayor.
The Star story quoted a Republican city official addressing attempts to heal the rift between law enforcement and the community: “I don’t think there’s a secret formula to wave a magic wand and we’re all okay now.”
In fact, establishing a civilian review board is no cure-all — just a good faith effort toward digging in and committing to doing the work to address longstanding problems.
