CHC 1979-05-15 PH - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

out in the charter. . .Where the commission has the right to advise and to expect compliance by the chief of police and where the chief of police can be reasonably sure he won ' t have interference from the commission on internal matters , the day to day administration which should be his and the matter of discipline. Those things which should fall in a direct line from the chief of police and where he should be able to operate without interference from the police commissioners. On the other hand, I think such matters as newsreleases ,the identity of criminals, some of these matters could be released to the press. In many cases , the identities of individuals charged or suspected of law enforcement violations have not been released when it might serve a community purpose if they were. This .is a matter that there could be a lot of disagreement on but it is a kind of a policy matter as to the operation of the police department that I think the police commission should take up and should consider. It can be construed, from the section , here that such considerations would be interfering with the administration of the police department. Thass is the kind of void that I would like to see eliminated. If it is possible to spell out the wording a little bit more. Failing that , I really favor the elimination of the police commission entirely because I think it isn ' t serving its purpose. That is just a personal opinion. . MR. CADINHA: Mr. Austin, if you would envision the police 'commissl on as you would like to seeit, would it be an elective office or an appointed position. . . MR. AUSTIN: In the largest city, I might favor an elective office. But, here, I see no reason why it can ' t function quite well as it is set up here. Representatives from each of the districts and the members shall be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the council. To me, that is sufficient. It is not so much who is selected, although, there again I think the county council should determine that the police commission members have the appropriate background and understanding of law enforcement, or penology, or some related phase of police work where they can bring their experience to bear. Whether they be social workers , or what. These sciences and skills all have a bearing on their capabilities to serve as commissioners. I think the council should use their discretion in screening out those they feel are qualified to serve on the commission and eliminate those who have no special qualifications. By that, I don ' t mean they should only pick ex-policemen;; or what have you. I think that law enforcement in the policy making area embraces a wide spectrum of people from different fields. They can all contribute if they have some area that overlaps with law enforcement. I think I would rely on the judgment of the mayor and the approval of the council as far as selection of members. .