The Citizens Police Review Board met Wednesday to tackle another complaint of excessive force and possible changes to Columbia Police Department search warrant policy.
The board’s newest member, Steve Sheltmire, was appointed by the Columbia City Council on Monday. This was Sheltmire’s first meeting since replacing former board member Steve Weinberg, who stepped down for personal reasons.
The board voted to hear two new cases at its March meeting, one which involved a controversial Taser use. Eight Columbia residents brought the appeal to the board in response to a November 2010, incident in which a mentally ill suspect was Tased in a Subway on Ninth Street.
“I think we need to have an ongoing conversation about how we, as a criminal justice system, treat the mentally ill,” board member Betty Wilson said during the meeting. “I’d like to know what kind of training they have to separate something like drug-related symptoms from a paranoid schizophrenic and things like that.”
Columbia Police Department Chief Ken Burton said there is a misconception that a Taser will never be used on someone who is mentally ill.
“That may still be the most appropriate response,” Burton said. “The acts of an officer are completely reactive.”
A few MU students, as well as local attorney Dan Viets, made short speeches to the board about their concern about the execution of search warrants for non-violent crimes. Viets said the concern was brought to a head by the February 2010, SWAT raid when Columbia police officers shot and killed a dog and found only a misdemeanor amount of marijuana.
“I think the board should provide an opportunity for the public to be heard and then decide whether or not to act further,” Viets said. “From my experience and the experience of my clients, search warrants always carry real potential for violence.”
Viets suggested having the board hear testimony from attorneys, experts and the targets of search warrants to see if the CPD policy on seeking search warrants needs changing.
“I can share incidents that are hair-raising,” Viets said. “They can be traumatic and they have long-term consequences for families and children. There are other means that are less dangerous for investigating these crimes.”
Sophomore Grant Paris said there are problems with the police policy regarding search warrants.
“When the right to bear arms is our second amendment and police officers are barging through the door, a violent situation can unfold,” Paris said. “They’re in full body armor. They could be saying they have a warrant, but you don’t know.”
The board decided to put the search warrant issue on the agenda for its April meeting. Spencer Pearson, the MU chapter president for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Maneater staff member, said he plans to gather more information and would be prepared to discuss it with the review board.
“We’ll look up the numbers and policies and bring suggestions forward,” he said. “I think we can make some real change happen here.”
The review board also voted to use the CPD code of conduct to help define officer actions as misconduct. However, board member Fred Boeckmann was not sure it would help officers clarify what qualifies as misconduct.
“I don’t know that this solves any problem the officers have with uncertainty,” Boeckmann said during the meeting.
