More than a year ago, as city officials sought to manage the crisis created by the officer-involved shooting death of Columbus resident Ricky Ball in October 2015, the city council passed a package of six new or revised CPD policies.
Among those new measures was the creation of a citizen’s oversight board, designed to serve as a liaison between police and residents. Initially, the idea was met with a measure of skepticism: The board was given no authority and didn’t hold its first meeting until more than six months after its formation. The optics was that the new board was little more than a public relations tactic.
That is why we are pleased to note that, based on the meetings the board has held to date (including one Thursday), the meetings have proven to be a valuable tool in bridging the communication gap between the CPD and the community.
Board members have come prepared, posing serious questions to city officials and city officials have responded to those questions candidly. Thursday’s meeting included discussion of police department staffing, how the CPD disciplines its officers and the newly-formed drug task force, a collaborative effort between the CPD and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
CPD Chief Oscar Lewis provided detailed responses to each question, as did the mayor.
We believe this to be an important step on the right direction because it helps fill the information gap between city officials and the community. Certainly, opening the lines of communication will not solve all of the problems facing our city when it comes to crime and law enforcement. But we believe that when the city communicates openly with its citizens, the bonds of trust are strengthened.
We applaud the work of the board and the cooperation of city officials in their efforts to better inform its citizens, not only through the work of the oversight board, but also in its cooperation with the media.
The better we understand the realities facing our police department — its challenges and issues and its efforts to address them — the more empowered we are, as citizens, to play our role.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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