Commissioners Consider Creation of Police and Criminal Justice Review Board

BROWARD COUNTY, FL- The creation of a Broward County Police and Criminal Justice Review Board will be under consideration when County Commissioners meet on Thursday, September 10th, beginning at 10AM.  

The proposed independent Police and Criminal Justice Review Board would gather data on police use of force, alleged misconduct and other criminal justice issues, publish data and reports, identify issues that could be addressed through policy changes, and make recommendations as deemed necessary.

Broward County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness proposed creating a Police and Criminal Justice Review Board after the death of George Perry Floyd, Jr. and the outrage that was expressed on a national and international level.  Mr. Floyd was killed when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for approximately eight minutes as Floyd begged for his life, repeatedly telling the officer that he could not breathe. The tragic incident was captured on videotape and police body cameras. 

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen more police misconduct and brutality occur across our country since the death of Mr. Floyd and this cannot continue. Creating an independent Police and Criminal Justice Review Board will allow for the investigation of general trends, practices and police patterns including the use of force.  We must be proactive in Broward County,” said Mayor Holness. 

The proposed Police and Criminal Justice Review Board would be comprised of 17 voting members. Each of the nine County Commissioners would nominate one member to serve on the Board. The additional eight members would be nominated by the president of the Broward County Bar Association, president of the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association, president of the T.J. Reddick Bar Association, the Broward Public Defender, the Broward State Attorney, the Caribbean Bar Association and a member of the Florida Bar Association nominated by the Broward branch of the NAACP.  The Mayor would also nominate one member of clergy.  Two nonvoting members that may participate in Board related discussions will be the Broward Sheriff (or designee) and the president of the Broward Chiefs of Police Association (or designee.) Voting members will attend training arranged by Broward County.  Members of the Police and Criminal Justice Review Board will not be paid for their service and each will serve a four-year term. 

If approved by the Commission, a public hearing will take place on September 22nd for public discussion and a final vote by the Commission.

To promote social distancing and avoid risk of additional community spread of COVID-19, the meeting will not be open to physical attendance by members of the public, the media or general County staff. The meeting will be broadcast and webcast in several viewing venues.  Instructions for public participation are at RegisterToSpeak.Broward.org. Anyone wishing to register to speak must do so no later than 9:30AM on September 10th.