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Letters to the Editor — Henrico civilian review board

LETTERS: Reader urges civilian review board creation

,   and  Citizen Staff Reports
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Dear Editor,

I was very disappointed to read that the Henrico County Board of Supervisors has not acted to develop a Civilian Review Board (CRB). The Virginia General Assembly passed a law in October 2020, allowing localities to create law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies. CRBs are important to ensuring police accountability and increasing community trust.

The Virginia law describes responsibilities for a CRB, including: i) receive, investigate, and issue findings on complaints from civilians regarding conduct of law-enforcement officers… (ii) investigate and issue findings on incidents, including the use of force by a law-enforcement officer, death or serious injury to any person held in custody, serious abuse of authority or misconduct, allegedly discriminatory stops, and other incidents regarding the conduct of law-enforcement officers or civilian employees.

CRBs are not new. They gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s and now exist in hundreds of American communities, including Fairfax, Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, and Alexandria. To be effective, a CRB should have subpoena power to access information needed to investigate, binding decision-making authority, adequate funding, representation on the board by populations affected by discriminatory police actions/excessive use of force (not active or retired police officers), and transparency of process.

Research reports are available to help the Board of Supervisors proceed in creating an effective CRB, resources that provide comprehensive analysis and comparison of various models:
• Alexandria’s Community Policing Review Board;
• The Evolution and Growth of Civilian Oversight;

The Henrico Board has heard citizens speak at their meetings to express the need for a CRB. Just this week as reported in the Henrico Citizen, the board was advised that “eighty complaints were filed against Henrico Police in 2019 by residents and 64 complaints were filed in 2020, according to a Henrico County Police Division Office of Internal Affairs…; “61 of the complaints from 2020 were found as sustained.”

I urge the Board to recognize the need for a Citizen Review Board and take action NOW.

Sincerely,

Beverly Koerin
Tuckahoe District

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