Cop Watch Participants

[Dreepa]

When I move to NH if noone else has, then sure...

Why wait?

[Quantrill]

Because I don't live in NH and have no idea where the speed traps are.  Anyone can update that info at anytime.

[Kat Kanning]

Police oversight pitched
Keene legislator?s plan is drawing fire
   

IAN BAGLEY
Sentinel Staff


Police union officials in Concord and Nashua are criticizing state Rep. Timothy N. Robertson, D-Keene, for sponsoring a bill that would establish local citizen committees to hear complaints against police officers.

Robertson said the idea behind his proposal is to foster a more trusting relationship between police and the public.

The committee he envisions could make recommendations and facilitate dialogue between police and people making complaints, but would not have subpoena or disciplinary power, he said.

However, officers representing police unions in Nashua and Concord have written letters in recent weeks saying they are against the committee, which they say is unnecessary and potentially disruptive.


      


?We take offense that (Robertson) would even make the inference that Concord police officers are unprofessional? and in need of such a committee, wrote Mark Dumas, president of the Concord Police Patrolmen?s Association, in a recent letter to The Sentinel.

?Mr. Robertson, your constituents elected you to do what is right for them,? wrote Nashua Detective Michael Fauteux, secretary of the Nashua Police Patrolmen?s Association. ?Do not try to extend your personal feelings about people or groups onto others that do not want it.?

Robertson said his reasons for proposing the committees are not based on any assumptions that police are unprofessional. ?I think we?ve got a great force? in Keene, he said. ?If you wait until you need it, it?s much too late.?

In some cases, he said, the committees might be more effective in convincing people that police are doing a professional job.

?Personally, if I was a policeman, I would want it,? he said.

Robertson said he?s still working out many of the details of his proposal, and welcomes input in a few months when it?s reviewed by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in the N.H. House.

In general, however, Robertson said he envisions a committee that would meet only if the need arose.

?They would have no real power, as far as I?m concerned,? he said. He said his plan would require committees to be set up in cities and towns across the state.

Explaining the thinking behind his proposal, Robertson pointed to recent history in Brattleboro, where controversy and distrust still linger after a man was shot to death by police in 2001.

The Vermont Attorney General?s Office has since cleared the officers involved of using excessive force, but many Brattleboro residents haven?t accepted the attorney general?s findings as legitimate.

?I am just sick to death from what happened in Brattleboro,? Robertson said. ?They are still suffering from this, and the suffering may be completely unjustified.?

An investigation by a committee of uninvolved ?town fathers? might have been more effective in assuring the public that the truth had been uncovered in that case, Robertson said.

Earlier this year, the town of Brattleboro agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the victim?s family after the shooting.

In 2005, a Citizens-Police Communications Committee was established in Brattleboro to hear complaints and compliments concerning police.

Committee member Gail K. Cooper of Brattleboro said the committee was formed after a town meeting when voters requested a civilian review board to investigate police conduct.

Unlike the Citizens-Police Communications Committee, a civilian review board is typically a board that has the power to investigate allegations of misconduct by holding hearings, with the goal of eventually issuing a ruling.

The Citizens-Police Communications Committee has less power than a civilian review board, said Cooper, who said her committee is largely an outlet for people who accuse police of being rude or disrespectful. The committee keeps a record of complaints, and tries to encourage resolution through mediation.

Although the controversial 2001 shooting led directly to calls for change, the committee that resulted would have no role to play if a similar event occurred today, she said.

?We could have done nothing about that particular incident,? Cooper said.

Cooper said she doesn?t think the committee has been successful in improving relations between police and the town. Part of the problem has been difficulty recruiting members for the committee, which now includes three members and two vacant seats.

Brattleboro Police Chief John Martin did not return phone calls for this story.

Keene Police Chief Arthur Walker said he?s still waiting to see the details behind Robertson?s plan before he weighs in on it. However, he said he has concerns about how such a committee would function.

Nationally and locally, most complaints made against police involve use of force, and the legal system already includes processes for investigating allegations that police acted inappropriately, he said.

?We are already accountable to elected officials,? such as the Keene City Council, Walker said.

Walker wondered what might happen if members of such a committee retired, and were replaced by members with different opinions about how to evaluate police conduct.

?If committee members turn over, you?re going to have issues of consistency of how they perceive certain things,? he said.

[error]

Yeah, who the hell could ever think anything bad about the Concord PD?

[AmerTownCrier]

?We are already accountable to elected officials,? such as the Keene City Council, Walker said.

Oh, well i feel much better knowing that. Our elected officials will take care of the problems. That statement alone makes a case for setting up citizen committees.

[Kat Kanning]

Karma to the mega statist Tim Roberson.

[Russell Kanning]

Isn't it funny how they are freaking out about this? These are just little committees. How would a police detective in Nashua know that folks in Keene don't want this?

[Kat Kanning]

He's my representative and I want it.

[d_goddard]

FYI, NH State Rep. Jordan Ulery has submitted legislation that would make "Cop Watch" perfectly legal:
    2007-H-0043-R   clarifying the wiretapping and eavesdropping statute.

He's submitting some other ones that look promising, too... I can't wait to see the full text!

2007-H-0664-R   relating to citizen review retention elections for judges. Providing that a judge shall be subject to a citizen review retention election
2007-H-0970-R   decreasing the rate of the business enterprise tax.
2007-H-0972-R   lowering the rate of the business profits tax.

[TackleTheWorld]

Legislation.   Yes, quite promising.   and... slightly ....BORING!

I'm taking my Cop Watch press credentials and camera on the road tomorrow
That's entertainment!

I'll be following Dada Orwell during some of his silent protests,
and if somewhere along the way police are being troublesome - I'll stop for a look.

[Russell Kanning]

.... yea ... and New London CT dropped the tresspassing charges .... but only after holding Lauren for 90 days to think about it. Laws do not make you free.

[Tom Sawyer]

Legislation.   Yes, quite promising.   and... slightly ....BORING!

I'm taking my Cop Watch press credentials and camera on the road tomorrow
That's entertainment!

I'll be following Dada Orwell during some of his silent protests,
and if somewhere along the way police are being troublesome - I'll stop for a look.

Good luck Lauren and Dave.

[d_goddard]

Legislation.   Yes, quite promising.   and... slightly ....BORING!

Perhaps. But it is the only tactic I have seen produce measurable results in NH.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I think the first thing to produce results was the 'Ilegal Manicurist' act of Civil Disobediance.   I might be wrong, but, I remember some rep. was going to look into changing the law. I don't remember the outcome, but, even if there wasn't a change over the one act, repeated acts, probably would have brought an end to licensing for this in NH.

[d_goddard]

I think the first thing to produce results was the 'Ilegal Manicurist' act of Civil Disobediance.   I might be wrong

You are.
It produced the good -- and not to be trivialized  -- result that Civ Dis has produced in other cases, which is to get people fired up & motivated to move and/or to become active themselves. I know seeing footage of Mike, and hearing his extremely articulate interview on CNHT radio really got me fired up shortly after my own move.

Dave aka Dada did a good job of contacting a friendly Rep to get a bill submitted, but the Statists were able to summon dozens of scaremongering licensed beauticians, and the freedom-fighters had nobody to show up & testify for the bill. IIRC, it died in committee.

A half-dozen people willing to testify makes a lot more difference, in terms of laws passed, than just about anything else -- with the possible exception of getting a good person elected.