EINO SIERPE PHOTO
Cops throwing unarmed protester Nate Blair to the ground on Church Street, Feb. 4; he got a concussion.
Instead of seeking to wrench “teeth” into a proposed civilian review board, advocates of police accountability should focus on strengthening the existing Board of Police Commissioners and prepare to handle footage from police body cameras, in the view of a former top New Haven cop.
Retired New Haven Assistant Police Chief John Velleca, who currently serves as sergeant at arms for the Connecticut State Senate, made the suggestions Thursday during an appearance on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
Velleca spoke the morning after a three-hour standing-room-only public hearing at City Hall over a proposal to create a 13-member civilian review board (CRB) to review internal affairs investigations of police misconduct complaints.
Velleca agreed with critics at the hearing who argued that without subpoena power or the ability to question police officers, the CRB will fail to produce more police accountability. Alders who drew up the proposal said state law prevents them from giving the CRB subpoena power. Activists, including students at Yale Law School, called for the Board of Alders to “lend” its subpoena powers to a newly reconstituted CRB until state law can be changed.
Velleca argued that the Board of Police Commissioners, which already does have subpoena power, could step into that role — if people make the effort to strengthen it.
In the 1970s the commissioners held lengthy hearings exposing widespread illegal wiretapping of activists and other citizens by the police department. The commission, and only the commission, also has the power to hire and fire cops.
Velleca said nowadays he has seen no evidence of commissioners playing an active role in monitoring the department. He argued that the commission could accomplish the goals envisioned for the CRB if it adds members with true investigative experience — as private investigators, say, or risk managers or attorneys — and then more actively pursues its responsibility as independent civilian monitors.
He called the quest to pursue that goal instead through a CRB “ill-conceived.” He likened that quest to the popular use of the term “community policing” in public efforts to improve the police department.
“We roll out these terms and let the public latch onto them and believe” that will bring about the change people want, Velleca said.
He said he believes the public is “right” that police departments should have independent agencies holding them accountable. He also argued that the public should cut officers more slack so they can “let their guard down” and engage in discussions about misconduct with less defensiveness.
In the end, Velleca argued, the controversy over the CRB will pale in importance to the coming debate over how to handle the introduction of body cameras. The department plans to outfit all its officers soon with the cameras.
The public will demand to see footage of controversial incidents — and then will need explanations of what it sees on that footage, Velleca predicted. “Body cameras are going to open up a lot of eyes.” He said the next chief must prepare to help people “make sese of these videos when people don’t like what they see.”
Click on or download the above episode of WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven,” in which John Velleca and WNHH station manager Harry Droz discuss police accountability, including whether New Haven cops get fairly disciplined in controversial cases.
The Board of Police Commissioners might be an option but they are political appointees in a town with a strong Mayor form of government.
Political appointees are not independent and not going to risk opposing the Mayor or the Mayor's choice of Police Chief. If they do, they will be replaced.<br /> Were any Board members at the hearing to assist the public or the Alders?<br /> There is nothing in the public's demands that cannot be satisfied.<br /> It's the political will to make it happen that is lacking.