The trial of Aaron Dean, the previous Fort Worth police officer accused of killing Atatiana Jefferson in her dwelling in 2019, has made police belief a focus.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Six years after calls started for stronger police oversight in Fort Worth, a plan for a citizen oversight board stays in limbo.
In 2016, a Fort Worth mom known as police a couple of neighbor choking her son, however she and her daughters ended up arrested.
Video of the incident went viral, resulting in the creation of a Race and Culture Task Force which really helpful, amongst different issues, the creation of a citizen oversight board for police.
“It showed the city of Fort Worth that we had somewhat of a racial issue,” councilman Chris Nettles, who has pushed and campaigned for the board, mentioned. “This has to happen. It has to happen, and I have been the loudest voice, the strongest voice that has pushed for this oversight board.”
In January 2020, two years after the duty power’s suggestion of a board, the town as a substitute employed Kim Neal, a police monitor, to supervise insurance policies and assist deal with complaints independently.
“Some areas of the city are much more appreciative of police and they appreciate what they do, and they have a different stance on policing. They have a different perception of policing,” Neal mentioned. “But in other areas of the city, I think folks feel they are being policed more than served by the police.”
Neal’s present focus is making a voluntary mediation program for police and the group to sit down down and talk about encounters.
“It’s something that I strongly believe in,” she mentioned. “Some of my peers across the nation have done it and it has been a great success.”
Mayor Mattie Parker and Chief Neil Noakes declined to speak concerning the board with WFAA, however final July, Noakes mentioned he didn’t see it as a profit to the town.
“When we look across the country, what we’ve been seeing, I’ll be quite honest, I haven’t seen a lot of positive results,” Noakes mentioned in 2021. “I don’t know what a constructive civilian oversight board would appear like right here in Fort Worth.”
“Civilian review boards have been very successful,” Neal mentioned. “I think it’s important that our community members have that voice. I don’t ever think it’s ineffective. I think that we just continue to make it as sustainable as possible.”
“If we don’t have him working alongside us to make sure we can get the best out of this board, then we still fail as a city,” Nettles mentioned.
Neal introduced a plan for a board to council final September, however Nettles felt it didn’t go far sufficient, whereas different council members pushed again on concepts like individuals with a felony report serving on the board.
“I didn’t feel like it was strong enough to really make a difference,” Nettles mentioned. “We don’t want a washed up, a washed down, a washed overboard.”
Since then, Neal says she’s labored with teams to vary the plan together with guaranteeing illustration from LGBTQ and psychological well being communities and extra.
The energy of belief and the connection between Fort Worth police and communities of colour within the metropolis is once more in focus because the trial of former officer Aaron Dean, accused of murdering Atatiana Jefferson in her own residence, has been repeatedly delayed with no clear begin date at present.
“This shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Nettles mentioned. “This shouldn’t be Republican, Democratic, Independent. It should be what is best for the community.”
Years after the 2016 Fort Worth arrest went viral and because the metropolis watches a long-awaited trial, its leaders will determine if it may help for police whereas cultivating group belief.
story by The Texas Tribune Source link