Bainbridge Island city council members hope the third time will be the charm for creating a citizens committee to oversee the city’s police department.
Council members rejected a proposal at their meeting Tuesday — the second in little more than a month — that would have created a five-member citizens advisory board appointed by the city manager that would offer advice directly to Police Chief Matthew Hamner.
“I’m not in favor of the proposal before us tonight, both because it sunsets and because it, in my view, lacks the appearance to the public of true independence,” said Councilman Val Tollefson.
An earlier proposal centered on a seven-member citizen police advisory board that would review complaints about the conduct of police officers as well as general complaints about the police department.
Some said that approach, however, was too limited and needed reworking.
“I think you all remember that the last proposal was more of a complaint-driven board,” Hamner said.
“This oversight or advisory board is one that looks at all aspects of a police department,” he said.
The newest proposal would enlist the board to review the overall health of the police department on a quarterly basis, including the department’s crisis intervention process and training updates, hiring practices, complaints, progress of state accreditation and BIPD’s community outreach programs.
This new approach also failed to find favor with the council, though.
“I think the community at large is very happy by and large with the current performance of the police department, and we fully expect that that’s going to continue under your leadership and hopefully under your subsequent leadership with the department,” Tollefson told Hamner.
“But I don’t want to be in the position where we just rest on our laurels, and say that because things are good they’re always going to be good,” he added. “And I think that the public expects that this will end up with a process where there is some kind of body that is truly independent of the police department and of the city management.”
On Tuesday night, the council voted unanimously to appoint three council members — one from each ward — to join the police chief and city manager in writing a job description for the advisory committee.
Concerns about the latest proposal centered on the idea that the citizens advisory committee would disband after a year if it proved unneeded, and whether it would work independent from the police department.
“I also am more supportive of going in that direction than looking at something that has no real oversight responsibility,” Mayor Anne Blair said of composing a new job description for the committee.
“I mean, I think it’s a misnomer and misleading to say it’s ‘oversight,’ because it’s not. You’re describing something that’s advisory to you, and if you need advice.”
