Citizen police advisory board in the works in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- After near two weeks of protests in Colorado Springs for police reform, city council members say a police advisory board, of sorts, is in the works.
Monday, Mayor John Suthers explained, "I think we have to have a committee chosen by the council who will examine, as I say, very specific ways that we can promote telling police what their needs are, what their concerns are and educate the public about what they do."
On Tuesday, City Council President Richard Skorman opened their weekly session by saying, "This committee will get active right away. We care about it. We want to take some action."
Skorman explained a special work session will take place Thursday afternoon between council members, Suthers and Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski on what the group will look like and how it will be formed.
The group will consist of one high-ranking law enforcement officer, a council member and members of the community. Skorman says the meetings and recommendations this group makes will be open to the public.
"We'd like to move forward with a good public process for this community to look at our police department, best practices, what we do right, what we could change, what we can do better, how we as a community can be able to trust," Skorman said.
After Thursday's work session, Skorman says they hope to have an application process and criteria for people interested in joining the group. Shortly after that, they hope to have the group finalized.
