Benefits & Limits of Civilian Review Boards: A Westchester Coalition for Police Reform Panel Discussion

Posted on May 26, 2017 by AJ Woodson in BW News // 0 Comments

White Plains — An impressive list of municipal authorities, community leaders, clergy, Pace Law faculty and students and law enforcement attended The Benefits and Limits of Civilian Review Boards panel at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University located at 78 N Broadway, White Plains, NY.

The interactive panel discussion with law enforcement, members of the Albany and Syracuse Civilian Review Boards, and the President of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement included:

Frank L. Fowler, Syracuse Chief of Police
Brian Corr, NACOLE President and Director of Cambridge, Mass. Police Review and Advisory Board
Ivy Morris, Vice Chair of Albany CPRB (Citizens’ Police Review Board)
Zach Garafalo, Albany CPRB
Mallory Livingston, Chair, Syracuse CRB
Yusuf Abdul Qadir, Director of the Syracuse Chapter of the NYCLU
Raniece Medley, Esq, NYC CCRB

The panel was moderated by Law Professor David Dorfman at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

“Last night was incredible for me,” Charles Gallimore, a new member of WCPR shared. “You see I don’t have any kind of law or police background. So all the law language and abbreviations are new to me. I’m learning so much and I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend last night’s Civilian Review Board Forum. All our guest that I was able to talk with was open for dialog and welcome to a change for the better.”

This forum was organized and sponsored by the Westchester Coalition for Police Reform (WCPR) and was co-sponsored by the Pace Criminal Justice Institute. Below is a video of the entire panel discussion courtesy of Geoff Monroe, a community activist in the City of Mount Vernon who kindly volunteered his time to record the WCPR panel on civilian review boards.

UPCOMING EVENT
The 2017 Annual NACOLE Conference

This September in Spokane, Washington, NACOLE and the oversight community will come together to discuss the changing landscape, inevitable challenges, and the determination to continue the work to affect real and sustainable reform. This year’s annual conference will feature four tracks:

Current and Emerging Issues
21st Century Policing
Effectiveness & Impact
Correctional Oversight

Within these four tracks conference, attendees will be able to choose from 31 different concurrent and plenary sessions. In addition to attending these sessions, you will be with hundreds of others in the ever-growing community of civilian oversight practitioners, community members, law enforcement and correctional officials, journalists, elected officials, students and others working for greater accountability, transparency, and trust. You will be a part of a learning and networking event that will provide inspiration, ideas, and practical knowledge to overcome the challenges ahead and continue the work.

Scheduling information and registration is now available for the 2017 Annual NACOLE Conference. More information can be found on the NACOLE website at http://www.nacole.org/2017_annual_conference.