Boulder’s Police Oversight Panel plans to re-evaluate and change its bylaws – the latest step for the panel to adapt to the revised Police Oversight Ordinance that the City Council approved last fall.
The panel, made up of civilians with varied backgrounds, is responsible for reviewing complaints against police officers and making recommendations to the Boulder Police Department regarding discipline, policy and training. The police chief makes the ultimate determination on these matters.
The updated oversight ordinance, which governs the panel, was the product of months of work that began after panel members voted to pause some of its operations in May of last year. They made that decision less than a week after the City Council voted to remove former panelist Lisa Sweeney-Miran over allegations that she was biased against police.
Consultant Farah Muscadin, who is working with the panel on its bylaw changes, told panel members at an April 10 meeting that the bylaws need to be updated for three main reasons: to comply with the oversight ordinance, to reflect how the panel operates and to fill in areas that are incomplete or missing from the existing bylaws.
Muscadin said the revision needs to be “100% a collaborative process” and urged panelists to share their input.
“Fundamentally, the bylaws are a product of the panel. (They’re) going to specifically delineate how you conduct your business. So panel participation, input (and) feedback is going to be key, because this is going to be a document that you’re going to be living with,” she said.
When a panelist asked how urgently these bylaw changes need to be made, Deputy City Attorney Erin Poe said while she believes the panel should treat the changes as a priority, the panel is “not in any sort of jeopardy” right now.
A work group made up of two panelists, Abigail Franke and co-chair Soledad Diaz, will begin having closed meetings with Muscadin to discuss the bylaw changes. In between those closed meetings, the work group will hold some public meetings and also update the rest of the panel on progress during panel meetings.
The Police Oversight Panel was established in 2020, a year after a Boulder police officer confronted a Black Naropa student in front of his home.
