Local News in Brief : Police Review Panel Rejected in Pomona

Over the vocal objections of most audience members, the Pomona City Council rejected a proposal to create a citizen board to investigate complaints against police officers.

The council voted 3 to 2 to defeat Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant’s motion to establish a seven-member public safety commission that would oversee the San Gabriel Valley city’s police and fire departments. Bryant said the commission should have access to personnel records, be able to subpoena officers accused of misconduct and recommend disciplinary action.

Bryant said the commission was needed because of the Police Department’s slowness in handling complaints, such as one filed in February by a 29-year-old Pomona man who said a plainclothes officer verbally abused him, pushed him against a car and searched him after he was involved in a traffic accident. The Pomona Valley branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People called for a citizen review board last fall after accusing the Police Department of racism.

But Councilman Mark Nymeyer said Bryant’s proposal was too vague. And Mayor Donna Smith said the city already has adequate civilian review over police through its Community Life Commission, which is empowered to take complaints about police from residents and refer them to city officials.