Mayor to form civilian panel for complaints about police

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he will appoint a three-member civilian board to review police misconduct cases, breaking a stalemate over civilian oversight in the Boston Police Department.

The appointees on the Civilian Review and Mediation Board will serve as representatives of the public, with powers to examine internal police investigations of officers accused of wrongdoing, city officials said.

The board will review all allegations of serious misconduct, such as assault or illegal drug use, that are dismissed by the department's Internal Affairs Division, the officials said. It will also look into less serious cases if a member of the public appeals the decision by Internal Affairs.

The board members will be paid, part-time ombudsmen who can ask Internal Affairs investigators to do further work on complaints and make recommendations to the police commissioner about the disposition of cases, but they won't have the power to conduct their own investigations or to issue subpoenas. Their work will remain largely confidential, in order to protect those involved, according to the city's corporation counsel. The board will make an annual report to the mayor.

Community leaders praised plans for the board, long sought by critics who say that police have operated with little accountability outside the department.

A panel investigating the police shooting death of 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove in 2004 recommended such a board, but Menino had resisted, worrying that a strong outside entity would be overly aggressive in criticizing officers. Menino has now become comfortable with the model being put in place, Corporation Counsel William F. Sinnott said.

``This is an important step in the process of people having faith in the review of complaints that go to the department," said Menino, who added that he will begin reviewing candidates immediately. He said it could take several weeks for three panelists to be named.

In an attempt to make citizen complaint procedures more accessible, Internal Affairs misconduct complaint forms and materials soon will be translated into several languages and made available on the city's website, Sinnott said.

In 2004, the city hired an outside consultant to draw up recommendations for a civilian review board after an independent panel investigating the death of Snelgrove, killed by an officer firing pepper pellets into a crowd, called for one. Northeastern University's Institute on Race and Justice issued its recommendations to the city last December, and city officials said yesterday they have been working out the details ever since.

The final plans for the board follow many of the institute's recommendations, including the board's annual report to the mayor, which will be available to the public and allow for community review of the civilian board's progress. The report would include statistics on the number of dispositions handled, a critique of the police misconduct complaint process, and recommendations for improvements, if necessary.

In the current complaint process, people who feel they have been mistreated by police officers can file complaints with the Internal Affairs Division. The division investigates the cases and decides whether officers should be found guilty of misconduct and makes recommendations to the commissioner about discipline.

In cases in which officers are found not guilty or in which investigators conclude there is not enough evidence to support a guilty finding, the complaints are dismissed. Citizens can appeal the case to a citizen appeals board, but that board hasn't been convened in years, and cases have languished.

In cases reviewed by the new board, the appointees will be given case files and can direct investigators to go back and reinterview witnesses or investigate further in certain areas. If they still have concerns about an investigation after that, they can ask the police commissioner to intervene. If they decide the case was handled properly and thoroughly by Internal Affairs, the complaint process comes to an end, Sinnott said.

As part of the new process, complainants and officers named in less serious allegations, such as the use of offensive language, will be given the option of going through mediation to resolve their complaints, instead of going through a full-blown Internal Affairs investigation.

``A lot of those cases, we think, can be effectively handled by a voluntary mediation process," Sinnott said.

Officers who agree to mediation will have no record of Internal Affairs action against them; complainants will get to confront officers they believe mistreated them.

``Oftentimes, they want to look someone in the eye and find out why," Sinnott said.

Jack McDevitt -- director of the Institute on Race and Justice at Northeastern, who compiled the report recommending a civilian review board -- said yesterday that he was encouraged by the mayor's plans and said they reflected many of the best practices identified in his study.

``Most important, from our perspective, is that there is a review of the process after a certain period of time, so that if there needs to be more community involvement or more investigative powers for these folks, that can be addressed," he said.

Community leaders also praised the new board, but some said they hoped the mayor would consider a few revisions.

Darnell Williams, head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said he hopes the mayor will reconsider giving the board subpeona power, so it can call officers and other witnesses and complete the board's own investigations. He also wants the board to issue reports more often than once a year.

Still, Williams said, he is happy with the progress.

``Is it all that we want? Probably not," Williams said. ``Is it moving in the direction? Yes."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.