Police consultant K.B. Turner will present his in-depth analysis of the Columbus Police Department to the city council on Tuesday.
The council meets at 3 p.m. in the Municipal Complex.
Councilmen hired Turner in January for a six-month contract to analyze the police department, agreeing to pay him $19,000 plus expenses. Turner, a certified law enforcement officer and Columbus native, also chairs the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of Memphis.
Turner didn’t specify his findings to The Dispatch Thursday, citing ethical concerns and his desire for the city council to be among the first to hear them. He said the presentation will be available to the public online after Tuesday’s meeting, and he will release hard copies to the city that the media and public can access.
“I don’t like trying to do things in the dark, in a smoky room,” he said. “I don’t believe in that. I did say when I first got here that it was going to be transparent, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said Turner would present his report in open session before the council goes into executive session to discuss personnel matters with Turner.
Neither the city council nor any city officials will see the report before Tuesday, Turner said.
CPD staffing
One highlight he will report involves recruitment, which Turner has been pushing since he was hired.
“We’ve made some progress in terms of staffing,” he said.
“Hiring a police officer is a much more extensive process than just hiring a person in the private sector,” he added. “…You have to be very careful and very deliberate when you go through the application process. … It was my intent to exercise quality control to the process. I was keenly aware of the challenges when it comes to hiring a lot of police officers in a short period of time. You can make mistakes and overlook things that you wouldn’t normally. But we had to push it. We had no choice.”
Though budgeted for 67 officers, CPD had only 44 at the end of 2016. This year the city has hosted multiple recruitment fairs where potential officers can meet with police and city officials and pick up applications. Smith said thanks to Turner’s help with recruitment efforts, the department’s numbers are up and recruits are undergoing training.
“By him having those different recruitment (fairs) … that’s how we got our staff up to where it needs to be,” he said. “When these 12 graduate here in the next week, we’ll be at 64. We have another class prepared to go and that will get us where we need to be at the present time.”
Turner also said overall his experience in Columbus has been positive. He is particularly impressed with the CPD officers he has met.
“I’ve been very encouraged by the officers and their attitude and some of the challenges they’ve had working with such low staffing,” he said.
Money ‘well invested’
Smith said he believes the money was “well-invested.” And he was not alone in his praise of Turner.
Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor and Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box both said the city made a worthy investment in hiring the consultant.
“I think he’s done a terrific job and I’m sure that once he’s presented, the city of Columbus will be as appreciative as I am about his procedures,” Taylor said.
Box said Turner has talked to “all the stakeholders in the community” during the course of his analysis, from city and police department officials to private citizens at public meetings to school administrators.
“I think we’ll get a good report,” he said.
Police Chief Oscar Lewis declined to comment on Turner’s analysis other than to say he was waiting to see Turner’s presentation Tuesday.
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