Tallahassee’s citizens police review board is officially dissolved.
In a 3-2 vote during the city commission’s Wednesday meeting, commissioners decided to scrap civilian oversight in the face of new ambiguous state legislation that has led many cities across the state to dismantle their boards.
Numerous members of the community, mostly from the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, came out in hopes of persuading the commission to hold off on getting rid of the board during the only public hearing on the matter.
More: Tallahassee City Commission may vote to officially dissolve citizens police review board
“This is not about what the law is,” Delilah Pierre said. “It’s about a political choice that Mayor John Dailey, City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, City Commissioner Curtis Richardson and City Manager Reese Goad are making.”
Delilah Pierre, president of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, speaks to students and community members gathered at Florida State University on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, to protest Gov. Ron DeSantis’s push to defund and close diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campuses.
Delilah Pierre is president of the TCAC, a group that’s been a harsh critic of local police and has consistently complained about the review board’s lack of power for months.
Multiple members from the organization stood before the commission scolding Tallahassee’s leaders for getting rid of the board. They said the capital city board is crucial for protecting the community from “violent cops.”
Dot Inman-Johnson, who ran for Richardson’s position on the commission last election cycle, said that the board would be a good tool to improve relations with police and the community.
“I wish the inspector general had mentioned something as an alternative if he was recommending ending that board that would give the community some angle for collective input into what’s happening,” Inman-Johnson said.
City Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow briefly discussed the speakers’ concerns and proposed a counter motion to wait to repeal the board. But the motion failed with the majority voting bloc voting against it, but not commenting on the matter.
The Tallahassee Police Review Board meets June 2 at the Smith-Williams Service Center.
“I hate how this has been evolved into some sort of community versus law enforcement … because the whole point was to work together more,” Matlow said.
Matlow said the legislature wrote and passed the law without fully understanding what Tallahassee’s citizens police review board actually does.
Porter agreed and said she believed the board still had room to provide input. “We don’t have to do this today,” she said.
Tallahassee’s citizens police review board was created in 2020, a tumultuous year that saw three different suspects shot and killed by Tallahassee police officers. A local grand jury later found that the officers involved acted lawfully and were justified in their use of lethal force.
The bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis took effect July 1, 2024, effectively eliminated or limited municipal civilian oversight boards, according to city agenda materials.
A statement from the governor’s office said the intent of the legislation is to “prevent anti-police activists from carrying out extrajudicial investigations against law enforcement.” It also aimed “to make the process for reviewing or considering complaints against law enforcement officers uniform throughout the State of Florida,” agenda materials say.
Tallahassee is one of 15 municipalities in Florida to dissolve its civilian review board in response to the new law.
Statewide removal: Civilian police oversight in Florida crumbles after new law kicks in
Local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee’s citizens police review board is officially dissolved