Social justice coalition supports review board
The Community Coalition for Social Justice (CCSJ) is a Monongalia County organization that has been in existence for over 20 years. During those years, CCSJ has monitored and assisted in actions and events that promote and protect social justice in our community.
One of the current issues in Morgantown CCSJ is supporting is the proposed ordinance that has been presented to the Morgantown City Council to form a Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board.
This Civilian Review Board (CRB) is a proactive way for the public to gain input and to provide oversight of law enforcement in their community. Its purpose is to strengthen trust between law enforcement and the communities they police. CRBs have been shown to build trust between the police and the community in more than 150 communities across the U.S., where they have been successfully implemented.
In Morgantown, the Fraternal Order of Police and the members of the Morgantown Police Department have attended the special committee meetings throughout this CRB planning process. CRBs provide the ability to review police policies, trainings and other systemic issues and have been shown to encourage better internal investigations.
It is important to note that, while Morgantown’s CRB will only be able to recommend actions, it will still add another check and balance to local law enforcement.
In the end, the goal of this Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board is to deliver the most professional and effective police services possible to the Morgantown community. CCSJ encourages you to please support this very important ordinance when it is presented for a vote at city council.
Susan Brown and Sandra Nelms
Co-chairs Community Coalition for Social Justice
Morgantown
Stripping away income tax will hurt the state
The news of push from West Virginia legislators to strip away the state’s income tax should outrage and infuriate every citizen.
The legislators argue that, by removing the income tax, more people and businesses will be willing to move to the state and create new job opportunities for West Virginians who desperately need work. They say that removing the income tax will make it easier for small businesses to start up and grow in West Virginia or move from other states into West Virginia. This is not the case.
This will lead to the mass migration of opportunity from the state as education and other public services lose funding. What would help bring opportunity and support for low-income individuals and small businesses is the establishment of a State Bank. Specialized rates and loans would help support the creation of more small businesses and reinvigorate the lifeforce of West Virginia’s economy.
Coby Roland
Morgantown
Concealed carry makes campus more dangerous
I am writing as a student of West Virginia University to vocalize my deep opposition to West Virginia SB 246, allowing licensed employees, staff and students of public universities to carry concealed weapons on campus.
This legislation poses an eminent threat to campuses statewide by increasing the danger of unnecessary violence and compromising the safety of students, faculty and staff members and neighboring communities.
In March of 2019, U.S. Marshals were involved in a fugitive chase, which ended near the campus of WVU. I was sitting in a classroom when I got word that officers with sniper rifles were poised atop the footbridge over University Avenue, and I immediately became afraid for my safety.
I learned later of the fugitive chase and, of course, I am grateful that the fugitive in this case was detained. However, I cannot imagine how differently the events that day may have played out had students on campus that day been carrying concealed weapons and decided to take matters into their own hands.
Studies demonstrate how schools that adopt campus carry laws have higher rates of violence than those without. And given the sometimes contentious discussions taking place on campuses about race, politics or other sensitive topics, the presence of firearms has a chilling effect, which can erode freedom of speech and academic freedom in the classroom.
Firearms have no place on university campuses and will only distract from student learning. We cannot allow the West Virginia Legislature to pass SB 246.
Shelby Johnson
Morgantown
