MORGANTOWN — The powers and duties of the Morgantown Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board do not include investigations into specific incidents involving the city’s police officers.
Members of the board agreed Monday to include additional language on the city’s website near the “Email the Civilian Review and Advisory Board” link explaining as much.
The statement will read, in part, “The civilian police review and advisory board doesn’t have the power to investigate specific incidents of police misconduct. The board looks at the overall policies and practices of the police department.”
Board Chair Richard Burks said the body continues to receive correspondence from community members looking to provide details of specific incidents in which they believe police misconduct took place.
“I think they have a problem and they think this is the place to go,” Burks said, explaining the group welcomes community input and citizen participation, but wants to set clear expectations.
“If you’ve got a problem you can still talk to us, but know here’s what we can do and what we can’t do,” he said.
Member Bryan Church said probably half the emails received by the board are regarding “individual incidents of conduct.”
“I tell them, or explain to them, I guess, that we don’t investigate individual incidents of police misconduct. I encourage them to attend our next meeting. I tell them we meet monthly, to come on in and share your thoughts in the public portion of the meeting,” he said.
Officer complaints must be initiated directly with the MPD. The form to do so is available at morgantownpd.com by clicking the “resources” link at the top of the page and looking in the “forms” drop-down menu.
Board-led reviews, investigations and hearings on civilian complaints were initially intended to be among the volunteer board’s functions. That drew immediate pushback from both the Monongalia and Preston County Lodge #87 of the Fraternal Order of Police and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Several months and one lawsuit later, that language was ultimately removed.
The bylaws in place today explain, “The board may not investigate complaints of misconduct by individual police officers or make any recommendations or statements regarding possible discipline of individual police officers.”
Further, the board “may not review discipline decisions relating to individual police officers.”
