Compromise Reached On Tampa Police Citizens Oversight Board

TAMPA, FL — A year after the city of Tampa promised to reform its Citizen Review Board in the wake of George Floyd's death, the mayor and city council signed an ordinance giving more citizen oversight of the Tampa Police Department.

On Wednesday, Mayor Jane Castor and City Council Chairman Orlando Gudes, joined by Citizen Review Board members, signed the 2021 Citizen Review Board Ordinance into law. It takes effect Dec. 17.

The agreement came after months of delays due to conflicts over the makeup of the board, its authority and who would be responsible for making appointments to the board.

In June 2020, Castor and Police Chief Brian Dugan pledged swift reforms to the board following dozens of demonstrations in Tampa by Black Lives Matter and other Black activist groups.

However, the reforms were delayed when the mayor, city council, American Civil Liberties Union and the Hillsborough County NAACP chapter clashed over who should make appointments to the board and whether the board should have subpoena powers and the authority to investigate complaints against police officers.

Police representatives argued that citizens didn't have the expertise to conduct investigations into complaints against officers while Black Lives Matter members feared that a board dominated by mayoral appointees would be weighted in favor of the police and wouldn't be able to conduct independent investigations into police complaints.

The debate escalated when the city council proposed giving itself the power to choose seven of the 11 board members and giving the citizens board subpoena powers.

In May, frustrated at the lack of a consensus, Dugan accused the city council of dragging its feet and proposing his own reforms including allowing board members to track complaints against officers, review use-of-force policy changing and take part in interviewing new hires. He also proposed appointing an independent attorney who reports directly to the review board in addition to having the department's attorney work with the review board.

"In five days, it will be the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder. And the fact that we are still standing here talking about police reform is quite frankly disappointing to me," he said.

"We have worked very hard at the Tampa Police Department to implement change, have accountability and oversight," Dugan said. "I didn't want it to drag on. I wanted to get it done. I promised a year ago that I would speak less and listen more, and I've done that. But I can no longer stand by quietly. It's time to move forward."

Dugan went on to list reforms that have already been implemented in his department over the past year including providing all officers with body-worn cameras, requiring police to give warnings before shooting and banning officers from shooting into cars.

The police chief said the department also increased training with an emphasis on de-escalation techniques.

Additionally, he said the department put its existing prohibitions against no-knock search warrants, chokeholds and strangleholds in writing to build the public's trust.

He drew the line, however, at giving the review board subpoena powers.

"They're worried about what's being seen on a government camera, yet they want to issue a subpoena to you for what's on your Ring camera. That's just unacceptable. We can't have that," he said.

Castor sided with Dugan, saying citizens shouldn't have "unrestricted access" to issue subpoenas.

She said Dugan's proposals meet the desired result of bringing more accountability and transparency to the police department.

"I believe we have the checks and balances in place to identify those individuals who aren't acting appropriately but are tarnishing the badge," she said. “This issue has dragged out for a year and I think the community wants closure.”

In response, during a city council discussion spearheaded by Gudes on June 17, the majority of the council agreed to split 10 appointments to the board between the council and the city administration with the ACLU making the 11th appointment.

James Shaw Jr., state legal panel chair of the ACLU of Florida, said he was disappointed that the council agreed to split the appointments with the mayor and require that the ACLU's appointee be approved by the mayor and council. He was also frustrated at the council's compromise not to give the board subpoena powers.

“I want to be very clear,” Shaw said. “5-5-1 is not a compromise. It’s a capitulation.”

Nevertheless, Yvette Lewis, president of the Hillsborough NAACP, said it's a start.

She said the compromise gives the board a modicum of autonomy and independence while creating a "mechanism to provide oversight, accountability and transparency after years of policies that have hurt the Black community.”

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