WB Council rejects Citizen Police Review Board ordinance

WILKES-BARRE — The Citizen Police Review Board proposed by city councilwoman Beth Gilbert McBride had some public support, but not from her colleagues who voted it down 3-2 Thursday night.

The ordinance that would create the board will appear again, however, as McBride said her fight on behalf of the public wasn’t over.

“As far as the review board goes, it’s not a done deal. Myself and members of the public are going to continue to move forward with it and prove that however we can,” McBride said.

The ordinance would create a nine-person board, appointed by a committee formed by the NEPA Rainbow Alliance representing the LGBTQ community in the region and the NAACP Wilkes-Barre Branch # 2306, to investigate allegations of police misconduct and make recommendations to the mayor and chief of police on what actions to take.

The board was up against the Wilkes-Barre Advisory Committee created by Mayor George Brown that was not on the agenda for council’s combined work session and public meeting Thursday. The mayor said he did not need council’s approval for the committee made up of him, the police chief and seven people appointed by Brown.

Council Chairman Bill Barrett and councilmen Mike Belusko and John Marconi supported the mayor’s committee over the board and added there are enough avenues already in place for the public and the department to address complaints against city police officers.

Only council Vice Chairman Tony Brooks voted with McBride in support of the ordinance.

NAACP supported ordinance

It also had the backing of the Wilkes-Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Branch President Ron Felton submitted a message that was read at the start of the session that was closed to the public because of the new restrictions imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as the number of cases increased in certain parts of the state.

Felton noted Wolf signed into law two bills on police reform, while blasting the city government for lagging behind on the issue.

“Now let me say this about the leadership of the city of Wilkes-Barre which is mostly Democratic. It’s your conservative leadership that’s holding the city back from its true potential,” Felton said.

Barrett: Confusion about panels

Barrett, former city police chief, was out front of other council members in explaining his opposition to the board.

There seems to be some confusion on the purpose and function of the board and committee, Barrett said.

The advisory committee provides input to the police on a wide variety of issues. The first thing that comes to mind for him when the talk of the review board comes up is discipline, Barrett said.

“The Police Advisory Committee, not a board, is not looking at at discipline per se. It’s looking at ways to improve the department and improve community relations and prevent things from occurring that have been occurring across the country,” Barrett said, in reference to the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of white police officers.

Barrett, who was recently appointed by the governor to the Municipal Police Officers’ Training and Education Training Commission that will maintain the separation information of police officers, added that the state and federal governments should lead on the reforms.

“I think that it needs to come down from that level,” Barrett said.

Belusko told council that he met with Police Chief Joseph Coffay and was informed about the existing policies in place for residents to report complaints about officers.

“We have that in place. We have the police advisory committee. We didn’t need another avenue to go after our police officers which I feel is an attack on them,” Belusko said.

McBride responded that although that hasn’t been an incident such as the George Floyd death in Minneapolis, she didn’t rule out something like that happening here.

“No one has died yet in Wilkes-Barre but I think if we continue on the path that we’re going, it’s very possible,” McBride said.

PBA’s position

The Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association, the union representing officers in the department, had not changed its position that it had concerns about the language in the ordinance.

In an email, PBA President James Conmy said: “The Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association stands by our earlier statements that our organization is willing to discuss any initiative designed to improve our relationship and standing with the community. For example, we are behind the acquisition of body cameras for our members to enhance transparency. We also will try to work with the advisory board or any other group who wants to increase our department’s dialogue with the community and foster positive relationships to accomplish common goals.”