The Morgantown Citizen Police Review and Advisory Board held its first open public forum Thursday evening at the Morgantown Public Library on Spruce Street, hosting a crowd of around 40 community members, including citizens, Morgantown city officials and members of the Morgantown Police Department.
Board Chair Richard Burks was joined by Vice Chair Rachel Fetty and board members Robert Cohen, Dady Dadyburjor, Megan Gandy, Bryan Church and Catherine Fonseca in the effort to connect with community members about concerns regarding the policies, practices, or procedures of the Morgantown Police Department.
The city ordinance establishing the board grants it the power to review MPD policies, practices and procedures and make recommendations for improvements, but does not give members authority to investigate or discipline individual officers. They will also promote the availability of data relating to policing in Morgantown.
So far, they believe they have had complete cooperation and a good working relationship with MPD.
Board members said they are conducting their first case study of an incident and are hoping to have their first data report completed by the end of 2024.
The board is more concerned “with the what than the who” when reviewing incidents.
“When you start pointing fingers, then it gets emotional … everybody’s got emotions – facts are facts. A fact to me is a fact to you, so that’s something everybody can agree on,” Burks said.
The board was pleased with the overall number of people who showed up and engaged Thursday.
“The only thing is the questions and comments I heard tonight, I heard five years ago, so we need to find a way to do something,” Burks said.
Several citizens expressed concerns about MPD officers’ treatment of certain groups of people in Morgantown, particularly the unhoused community and those with substance abuse disorders.
Board members said no complaints have been filed reporting officer misconduct, which sparked discussions on the difficulties of filing a complaint and how many would be unable to navigate the current procedure.
“The hard part about it is you need to be able to document things,” Burks told The Dominion Post after the meeting. “But I feel for these people who feel they don’t have a voice – we’re hoping to be their voice, we want to be their voice. This is one of the reasons this was put together because you had marginalized groups that had no power.”
Board members said they heard the concerns of those who spoke and would discuss with MPD about how to improve the issues brought forth.
Burks hoped that if those in attendance got anything out of the forum, it’s that everyone needs to have input to this process.
Overall, Burks said he thought the forum was successful and looks forward to hosting more with even more community members in attendance.
Additional information about the Citizen Police Review and Advisory Board and how you can participate in the process can be found on the city of Morgantown website morgantownwv.gov.
