The Coaster
Saturday, January 28, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Browse News by Town
    • Allenhurst
    • Asbury Park
    • Avon
    • Bradley Beach
    • Deal
    • Interlaken
    • Loch Arbour
    • Long Branch
    • Neptune
    • Neptune City
    • Ocean Grove
    • Ocean Township
    • Tinton Falls
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Subscribe / Renew
  • Browse News by Town
    • Allenhurst
    • Asbury Park
    • Avon
    • Bradley Beach
    • Deal
    • Interlaken
    • Loch Arbour
    • Long Branch
    • Neptune
    • Neptune City
    • Ocean Grove
    • Ocean Township
    • Tinton Falls
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The Coaster
No Result
View All Result
Home Asbury Park

In Asbury Park Steps Taken to Create Citizen Review Board

by Carol Gorga Williams
November 30, 2022
in Asbury Park
In Asbury Park Steps Taken to Create Citizen Review Board
172
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare via EmailShare on Twitter

By CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS

More than a year after its own Equity Committee recommended Asbury Park create a citizen review board to explore transparency in police disciplinary actions, the City Council has taken steps toward making this a reality.

The council unanimously approved a resolution to appoint a 12-person board – with preference going to members of the Equity Committee – to serve up to 180 days or longer to determine how to create a board in the city.  Residents who wish to serve on this advisory committee should submit their applications to the City Clerk’s office.

According to the resolution – endorsed without comment – council members authorized the creation of an ad hoc advisory committee – to be called the CC Exploratory Committee “to study and review the potential creation of a civilian complaint review board or similar type of police oversight board or committee to promote transparency, accountability and public confidence in the police disciplinary process.” The phrase “ad hoc” comes from the Latin meaning “for this” and has come to mean “use for a specific immediate problem or need.”

This committee essentially builds on the work of the city’s Equity Committee which in April 2020 was authorized to review police policies and procedures, and one year later issued a six-page report including eight recommendations; the first recommendation was to create a civilian review board.

“…During the course of the Equity Committee’s work, it became clear to the committee that there exists issues of trust between the community and the Asbury Park Police Department,” according to a city resolution.

Further, “the Equity Committee recognized race and policing is a sensitive issue  that must be addressed for the long-term health and well being of the city.”

City officials said creating a civilian review board “would serve to foster transparency and transparency in policing practices and policies which in term would help to promote positive relations between the police and the local communities they serve.” The Equity Committee reports notes that credibility issues are most acute among the residents of the southwestern section of the city, and the police, where crime is higher than in other areas.

While the council made progress on most of the eight recommendations, including hiring a social worker to work with police, implementing more foot patrols and more community policing, the first recommendation – to create a civilian review board – stalled in 2021 after a series of developments, Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said.  Those include the June 9, 2021 directive of then-state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal that severely limited the powers of civilian review boards.

“You would be hard pressed to find anyone who read it and who didn’t think it stripped the powers of civilian complaints review boards,” Quinn said.

Also, despite the city’s endorsement of two pieces of state legislation that echoed some of the recommendations of the Equity Committee, including S-2963 which would have created civilian review boards in municipalities across the state, and S-685 which would have established a five- year residency requirement for police and firefighters, that legislation  “was going nowhere,” Quinn said.

The city had hoped to rely on the legislation and decisions from state law enforcement that would have provided uniform guidelines upon which a city board could be built. Absent that, Asbury Park now is going forward with a committee that will research how civilian review boards have been constituted elsewhere and issue recommendations for establishing one here, Quinn said.

“We’ve been left with doing this ourselves and the first thing we have to do a study and visit the municipalities that have them,” she said.

Related Posts

St. Patrick’s Day Committee Names Sammy Boyd Grand Marshal

January 27, 2023
Disussions Continue to Preserve Asbury Park Historic Sites

Disussions Continue to Preserve Asbury Park Historic Sites

January 25, 2023
Developer ‘Cares Deeply About Boardwalk’ As Iconic Asbury Park Buildings Deteriorate

Developer ‘Cares Deeply About Boardwalk’ As Iconic Asbury Park Buildings Deteriorate

January 25, 2023
In Asbury Park Steps Taken to Create Citizen Review Board

City Gets Good Marks for Budgeting

January 25, 2023
St. Patrick’s Day Fundraisers in City

St. Patrick’s Day Fundraisers in City

January 24, 2023
Asbury Park’s New Athletic Director

Asbury Park’s New Athletic Director

January 18, 2023

Trending This Week

Ocean Grove Ladies Auxiliary Raised $58,000 for Projects

Pilot Parking Program is Topic Of Special Meeting in Ocean Grove

January 25, 2023
Developer ‘Cares Deeply About Boardwalk’ As Iconic Asbury Park Buildings Deteriorate

Developer ‘Cares Deeply About Boardwalk’ As Iconic Asbury Park Buildings Deteriorate

January 25, 2023
Stabbing Incident at Asbury Park High School

Red Bank Man Charged With Numerous ‘Upskirting’ Offenses

January 24, 2023
Disussions Continue to Preserve Asbury Park Historic Sites

Disussions Continue to Preserve Asbury Park Historic Sites

January 25, 2023

Advertise Online with The Coaster

Advertise on The Coaster to reach countless new customers for your local business.

START ADVERTISING TODAY

E-mail Newsletter

Sign up to get a free weekly newsletter to your inbox.

Subscribe

Contact Us

The Coaster
1011 Main St
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Phone: 732-775-3010
FAX: 732-775-8345
editor@thecoaster.net

Email Newsletter »

All Articles

Search Our Site

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 The New Coaster, LLC. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Browse News by Town
    • Allenhurst
    • Asbury Park
    • Avon
    • Bradley Beach
    • Deal
    • Interlaken
    • Loch Arbour
    • Long Branch
    • Neptune
    • Neptune City
    • Ocean Grove
    • Ocean Township
    • Tinton Falls
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Subscribe / Renew

© 2023 The New Coaster, LLC. All rights reserved.