By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city will establish a new Civilian Oversight Board tasked with reviewing complaints against officers and uses of force.
City Council members voted 10-4 Monday to approve the new board. The vote fell along party lines with the council’s four Republicans voting against the measure.
Democrats said the new board will ensure police accountability and provide transparency to the internal investigations and reviews that happen behind closed doors. Republicans largely questioned whether the board could be truly objective and said it’s unneeded given internal processes already in place.
“What this process, I think, is meant to do is open those doors, open those gates, and say to the public ‘hey, we don’t have a problem in Rockford with our police department and we’re going to show you,” Alderman Bill Rose, a Democrat representing the 9th Ward, said. “We’re going to be transparent with this process.”
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Rose said Rockford was one of the last communities of its size in Illinois without such a board.
Alderman Tim Durkee, a 1st Ward Republican, called the board a “solution looking for a problem.”
“Those who have a mistrust in the police department who need something like this … I’ll gather that there’s a certain number of those people that no matter what you do they’ll never be satisfied with transparency unless they’re in the room watching everything,” he said.
The creation of the board was spurred by conversations around social and racial justice after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, which led to protests here and across the country.
The board will have seven members appointed by Mayor Tom McNamara. His selections must be approved by the City Council.
McNamara “is going to have either a difficult time getting people to come forward that are really unbiased or you’re going to have people that are coming out of the woodwork that want to get on there with a hidden agenda,” said Alderman Kevin Frost, a Republican who represents the 3rd Ward.
The board will review completed internal investigations and all complaints against officers. It will also review all incidents of police use of force. A written report of its findings will be provided to the public in each case.
“I think it just invokes a new level of politics,” Frost said. “One of the lines was that the investigation will be ‘complete, thorough, objective and fair.’ My question is: If this doesn’t already take place than we truly do have a problem. I’m unaware of that problem existing now. I’m unaware of our internal process being flawed now.”
The board will receive “robust training” and administrative support from the Rockford Police Department and the city’s legal department, according to the ordinance approved Monday. It will be tasked with an annual review in which it puts forward recommendations for improving the department.
“I don’t believe that the only people you’re going to get are the people that are ready to attack police,” Alderwoman Linda McNeely, D-13, said in response to concerns about who will serve on the commission. “We have a Fire and Police Board. Those individuals come from this community, and I don’t recall since I’ve been on council there’s been any complaint about any of the board members not being just or fair.”
Alderman Mark Bonne, D-14, said the City Council will have the ability to vet McNamara’s candidates for the board and can choose not to fill the seats if they don’t think his choices can be unbiased.
“We don’t have an oversight board until we make those appointments,” Bonne said.
How they voted
Yes: Jonathan Logemann, D-2; Gabrielle Torina, D-5; Aprel Prunty, D-6; Janessa Wilkins, D-7; Karen Hoffman, D-8; Bill Rose, D-9; Tuffy Quinonez, D-11; Gina Meeks, D-12; Linda McNeely, D-13; Mark Bonne, D-14
No: Tim Durkee, R-1; Chad Tuneberg, R-3; Kevin Frost, R-4; Frank Beach, R-10
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.