- City leaders voted 3-2 to eliminate the Citizens Police Review Board.
- The city attorney said the current board goes against new state law.
- Watch the video to find out why neighbors came out to urge them to keep the group in place:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Tallahassee Citizens Police Review Board is officially gone.
"The motion passes 3 to 2 with Comissioners Matlow and Porter in dissent."
That was the vote inside City Hall that got rid of the independent Citizens Police Review Board.
"The legislature passed a law preempting our ability to have police review boards," Mayor John Dailey said.
House Bill 601 has been law since July.
It bans "...civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies' investigations of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers."
The CPRB was a group that was established in 2020 following three deadly officer involved shootings that year.
The board reviewed policies, procedures and incident reports within the police department and made recommendations to TPD.
Delilah Pierre, president of neighborhood group Tallahassee Community Action Committee, said the board increased transparency in the community.
"I think police accountability is necessary to speak to the needs of people living here," Pierre said.
She and others spoke at the meeting urging city leaders to not eliminate the board.
Commissioner Jeremy Matlow noted that the board only reviewed closed cases and never had the authority to make disciplinary action.
"The only function of the CPRB is an opinion," Matlow said. "It's speech."
However, City Attorney Amy Toman cited an opinion from a judge in Miami Dade-County.
Court documents show that judge ruled against a police review board that sued the City of Miami after that group was dissolved.
The judge wrote even mere review of misconduct is "...preempted by the legislative act."
The mayor said TPD does have a Citizens Advisory Council neighbors could join.
Neighbors that spoke at the meeting like Pierre said it's not the same as a review board.
