The release last week of the 2008 annual report of Springfield's Community Complaint Review Board was long overdue, and not particularly illuminating. While the 15-page report listed various actions the group took over the year—mailing out brochures, meeting with some community groups—there was little in the way of meaty information about the board's ultimate charge: reviewing civilian complaints against the city's Police Department.
Instead, residents eager to know more about the board's work had to satisfy themselves with a half-page of stats: According to the report, the CCRB "successfully reviewed" 53 cases last year, 10 of which were "training cases used to assist in the development and preparation of the board." The report also noted that there were 180 civilian complaints filed against city police last year, 43 of which alleged improper use of force. (Twenty-four were "rudeness complaints," and 113 were alleged violations of SPD regulations.)
What it means, exactly, that the board "successfully reviewed" cases remains a mystery; the report offers no details about the specifics of the cases or the board's findings.
Not that those findings carry any weight anyway. The CCRB's role is extremely limited: Members review complaints only after they've been through the SPD's Internal Investigations Unit. The CCRB can review materials from IIU investigations but has no subpoena powers. And while it can offer recommendations to the police commissioner, they're recommendations only; disciplinary actions remain the power of the commissioner.
That, compounded by the historically rocky relations between the SPD and the city's African-American and Latino populations, has created a good deal of skepticism about the board. Some residents point out that the low figures don't necessarily mean that conflicts with the police aren't happening, but rather than people aren't reporting them, either because they fear retribution or have little faith that an internal investigation can be impartial.
Indeed, so far, the CCRB has proven more useful as a political football than anything else. The board was created in 2007 via an executive order by Mayor Charlie Ryan to fill the hole created when the city did away with the Police Commission in 2004, as part of a strategy to force out then-Police Chief Paula Meara. The new board was part of a settlement agreement between the city and the Pastors' Council of Greater Springfield, which was advocating on behalf of Douglas Greer, a city school principal who in 2004 charged he was roughed up by Springfield cops. The CCRB, however, is a weak substitute for the commission, which oversaw both external complaints and internal SPD matters, and could mete out discipline, including firing officers.
In 2007, Ryan was defeated by Domenic Sarno. Sarno promptly fired the board's coordinator, Melinda Pellerin-Duck, a Ryan supporter, and handed her responsibilities to his chief of staff, Denise Jordan. The board then lay fallow for months. Finally, last summer, after mounting complaints from residents and political rivals, Sarno held a press conference to introduce the board's members and reaffirm his commitment to its work. The problem is, the CCRB has little support from activists who would like to see a review board that has some real authority, and whose members come from the community. (The board's members are appointed by the mayor.)
The CCRB is aware of its limitations; according to the report, members' future plans include offering to the mayor, by June, "their recommendations regarding the scope of authority that needs to be broadened to ensure the effectiveness of the Board with the goal of restructuring the CCRB." Meanwhile, City Councilor Bud Williams—who, not so coincidentally, is challenging Sarno in this fall's mayor's race—has shown a recent interest in the matter, calling for the re-establishment of the Police Commission.
