One year later, where is the Birmingham Civilian Review Board?
Members of The Birmingham Civilian Review Board from left-right: Reverend Lawrence Conaway, T. Marie King (Chair), Annetta Nunn, and Victor Revill. A fifth seat on the board is vacant.
Tuesday marks one year since Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced the launch of the Birmingham Civilian Review Board. But to the public, the board doesn’t seem to be active.
Civilian review boards typically take public complaints of police misconduct and investigate them in an effort to hold officers accountable when they step over the line. They’re designed to make recommendations independent of police departments. Such boards have grown in popularity since the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer in 2020.
When Woodfin spoke about the board last year, he said it was part of reimagining public safety. Woodfin added the board would have representation from across the city.
“This task force puts moms and dads, faith leaders, and community activists, young professionals and more at the same table as our police force,” said Woodfin.
Since then, there have been at least three people killed by the Birmingham Police Department.
“It made me question after all of these police-involved killings, why has the civilian review board remained silent in regards to what’s taking place with policing,” said Eric Hall, a community activist and co-leader of the Black Lives Matter Birmingham chapter.
He said he tried to contact the board by calling people who are either a part of it or who oversee it.
“Community members do not know how to make grievances regarding police. It’s not something that’s spelled out clearly,” Hall said.
However, there is a website for the Birmingham Civilian Review Board that gives information about how to file a complaint. But it can’t take complaints online. Instead, members of the public can mail in a form.
A statement from the city says they assembled a board, held listening sessions and researched practices in comparable cities in the past year. Other cities that officials have been studying are: Durham, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and St. Louis, Missouri. But they say more time is needed to adequately launch the program. The statement also mentioned time is being devoted to evaluate the needs of the city’s residents.
Right now, the board is short one member. According to the statement, once that five-seat panel is full, officials can move on to the public portion of the work. They expect that to happen “in the near future.”
Alabama sets execution for man in auto parts store customer’s death
Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday set a March 12 execution using nitrogen gas for Charles “Sonny” Burton. Burton was convicted as an accomplice in the shooting death of Doug Battle, a customer who was killed during an 1991 robbery of an auto parts store in Talladega.
Trump posts racist meme of the Obamas — then deletes it
Trump's racist post came at the end of a minute-long video promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Hyperpop, poetry, BDSM or a Moroccan rave allegory? Choose your own cinematic adventure
Charli xcx is on more screens this weekend while Pillion tells a sweet BDSM story.
‘Pillion’ is a wildly entertaining dark comedy about sex and power
A mild-mannered young man enters into a dominant-submissive relationship with the leader of a gay biker gang. Pillion approaches the subject without judgment and with a great deal of sly humor.
Hate them or not, Patriots fans want the glory back in Super Bowl LX
As Bostonians bemoan their long years of suffering without a Super Bowl win, rival fans gripe that Title Town has become Entitled Town.
It’s about to get easier for Trump to fire federal workers
Since his first term, President Trump has wanted to be able to fire federal employees for any reason. A new rule vastly expands his authority to do that.
