Civilian police review boards are required – and still permitted

Police unions hate civilian review boards. For years they resisted its creation and operation.

Unfortunately, this is short-sighted.

When these boards function properly, they create transparency and accountability and increase the respect and trust of law enforcement. This has been their purpose since the founding of the first civilian police review boards in Washington, D.C. in 1948 and Kansas City, Missouri in 1959.

A 2022 report from the Leroy Collins Institute examined arrest rates in 114 Florida cities over nearly two decades and concluded that “the sharp decline in Black arrest rates” – “about a 15% decline” in cities with review boards – ” “a net positive” for both officers and civilians.” Aside from the fact that civilian review boards often exonerate officers, fewer arrests mean fewer tense police interactions with the public, which means less stress and danger for police officers.

This year, police unions’ long-standing aversion to civilian control and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying matched the ambitions of a governor who wanted to present himself as a champion of law enforcement and a fighter against civil rights advances.

And so compliant legislation was enacted, and Gov. Ron DeSantis happily signed House Bill 601, which some media outlets mischaracterized as a law that “bans” or “abolishes” citizen review boards.