After hours of debate during their public meeting Tuesday, a proposal for a police advisory board for accountability has been tabled for now.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Efforts to create a community police advisory board in Fort Worth are dead for now.
But, even before the heated debate at Tuesday’s council meeting, councilman Chris Nettles expected the proposal to get voted down.
Nettles represents District 8 for the City of Fort Worth, where he has heard from people in the community about forming a police policy advisory board.
“This board will bring an extra layer that gives an independent community voice,” said Nettles.
Before the Tuesday night council vote, Fort Worth Police Chief Neal Noakes addressed city leaders about forming an advisory board.
Noakes declined an interview request with WFAA, but one of his public information officers sent an email saying Noakes is focused on his continuous effort in building relationships with the community stakeholders in the city.
The council members who voted for a community advisory board were Nettles, Elizabeth Beck, Gyna Bivens and Jared Williams.
But council members Alan Blaylock, Michael Crain, Leonard Firestone, Carlos Flores and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker defeated the measure by voting against it.
A spokesperson for Firestone, who represents District 7, sent an email to WFAA indicating he did not want to interview about his “no” vote. Firestone referred WFAA to his comments made at the council meeting Tuesday night.
Crain, who represents District 3, responded with a statement about his “no” vote:
After hearing from constituents, and talking with Police Monitor Kim Neal and Police Chief Noakes, I thought the best, least contentious path forward for the City of Fort Worth was to have the Chief reconstitute the Police Advisory Board which was disbanded in 2019 (which was at the same time as the city had begun a search for a Police Monitor). This board will give citizens a voice at the table to review police policy and procedures and serve the same function as what was being proposed. It is unfortunate that the rush for a vote last night hindered the Council’s ability to find compromise and a consensus. I have the commitment from Chief Noakes that the advisory board will be reconstituted in a timely fashion with a widely-representative group of people. And the citizens of Fort Worth have my personal commitment that I will continue to work to ensure all citizens of the City of Fort Worth feel – and are – safe.
He shared during a call with WFAA that he wanted their council discussion tabled so they could work on amending the current proposal.
Crain told WFAA another reason he voted “no” was because he has a commitment from Noakes that the advisory board will be reconstituted in a timely fashion with a widely representative group of people.
WFAA did not hear back from Mayor Parker about why she voted “no.”
A spokesperson for Blaylock responded via email saying he was unavailable Wednesday afternoon and has no comment. Blaylock represents District 4.
According to Fort Worth community leader Cory Session, he communicated with Parker about the police advisory board proposal prior to the council meeting.
Session shared that he expressed to the mayor that he did not support the measure. Session served on a previous board designed to hold law enforcement and city leaders accountable.
But that entity has since been disbanded.
“There’s no reason to have an advisory board,” said Session, “Citizens need another avenue where they feel comfortable filing a complaint against a former police officer. You’re going to have access to bodycam to all of the documents that surround it and arrests are surrounded. An incident with what we envision on the Race and Culture Task Force. And we were looking at this what we envision is that it would be a separate entity that would be able to say, hey, this is what you can come directly to us citizens and we will investigate.”
Session wants to see a board that would have more teeth in his words. That’s also something councilman Williams is praying will happen. Williams represents District 6 for the City of Fort Worth.
“I’m a little disappointed in not being able to come to a workable solution, it just means we have more work to do in that regard,” Williams said. “My hope was that my colleagues and I could get to amendments that would ensure that we provide our residents with a seat on the table ultimately, and have conversations about what it takes for our neighborhoods to be safe and well, and when will our neighborhoods have a seat at that table to be able to give input on that?”
Now, as city leaders start their search for a new executive director for the police monitor office, Nettles hopes to be deeply involved so they hire the best person possible for the City of Fort Worth.