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The five-year team for the five community members serving in the Longmont Police Department Professional Standards Review Panel will be ending at year’s end. The City Manager’s Office is looking for five new volunteers to take on the role and is taking applications through Oct. 23.
The panel investigates allegations of misconduct by any members of the Department of Public Safety, including police employees, according to city public information officer Rigo Leal.
“Those cases range from employee-related motor vehicle accidents that are deemed to be preventable to that of officer-involved shooting cases. The most frequent type of investigation conducted is that of an employee motor vehicle accident,” he said, adding that on average the panel reviews three to five cases a year.
The primary function of the panel is to review police professional standards investigations to ensure their “fairness, thoroughness and completeness” and to make a finding that may sustain or exonerate the alleged misconduct, according to the responsibilities of the panel. It does not, however, have a say in disciplinary measures, Leal said.
The panel also helps ensure the community’s perspective is considered in evaluating department actions and policies and provides another level of accountability regarding professional standards, Leal said.
“Civilian oversight promises more equitable policing because non-police community members can regularly provide input into police department operations,” he said.
Linda Hoffman, a review panel member and nurse practitioner, said she has greatly enjoyed her time on the panel and understands the importance of community participation.
“The most important thing I learned on this panel is what an outstanding police department Longmont (has), from the top to the very bottom,” she said, adding she has learned a lot about the “ins and outs” of the process review, something she believes other community members should know as well.
“I think it's important, especially in these times, that citizens, everyday citizens, are able to review (what’s going on) and give their input and I think it would make the citizens of Longmont feel more comfortable if they knew citizens of Longmont were involved in reviewing these cases,” she said.
The panel was created in 2000 and established by the city manager as part of a 1997 strategic plan that called for involving residents in the police discipline process.
Carmen Mireles, panel member and former manager at local nonprofit, El Comite, said having been born and raised in Longmont and her awareness of the city’s history and the community’s relationship with the police department is what drew her to participate.
“Activism and social justice is kind of in my blood so it was a ... learning opportunity for me,” she said, adding that volunteering allowed her to get an inside look and also provide a perspective as a Latina resident.
The panel helps bring transparency and accountability to police procedures, policies and can help community members understand them and allow them to draw their own conclusions, Mireles said.
“Longmont is just a perfect example of what can happen when both groups can sit down at the table and are able to talk,” she said.
Applicants must be residents, have no felony convictions and have no misdemeanor convictions in the past five years. Law enforcement agency employees or immediate family members of the Longmont Police Department are not eligible, according to the city’s website.
Applications are available here. All applications must be turned in by 5 p.m. Oct. 23 to the City Clerk’s Office, 350 Kimbark St. For more information, call 303-651-8649.
