The co-founder of the national Black Lives Matter movement weighed in on South Bend’s community police review board during a round-table discussion Monday evening.
The community police review board was established back in October to respond to civilian complaints against police officers. City Clerk Dawn Jones said the city is now in the process of hiring a director for the board.
In a round-table discussion hosted by the South Bend chapter of Black Lives Matter, the national Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors complimented local activists on the role they played in getting the board established. But, she said their work isn’t over.
“Sometimes people think, ‘Well, we’re going to get a community police review board and everything is going to be okay,’ and that’s just not how it works," Cullors said. "It is part of a multi-prong strategy of reimagining public safety.”
To that end, Jones and local BLM leaders discussed ways the board could operate proactively, rather than simply responding to complaints. They said that could include conducting data reviews to uncover the root causes of crime and police misconduct, and using the review board to suggest public safety policy.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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