Council, Administration Spar Over Police Review Board Powers

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Some Atlanta City Council members think the police department and mayor's office want to curtail the powers of a new citizen committee that investigates claims of police misconduct. Today a council committee heard a proposal to restrict the type of police documents that the Citizen Review Board can access.

When a citizen makes a complaint, APD's Office of Professional Standards investigates. Normally, documents in a pending investigation are confidential, and the issue is, can the Citizen Review Board access them while the probe is ongoing. The amendments say no - the CRB should wait, and if it takes more than 90 days, it can demand an explanation from the police chief.

Greg Pridgeon is the mayor's chief of staff:

PRIDGEON: There are parts of this ordinance, though, that we think will help to expedite some of the process, the way it has occurred in the past.

But several council members echoed Councilman Ivory Lee Young:

YOUNG: What this legislation does, is it makes impotent the Citizen Review Board.

The CRB was founded in the wake of the police shooting of elderly Kathryn Johnston, in 2006.