The Tallahassee’s Citizens Police Review Board is no more.
The City Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to shut down the group following new state laws that stripped them of most of their authority.
The law puts civilian panels under the control of Florida police chiefs and sheriffs, and bans those boards from investigating police misconduct. The law was passed during last year’s legislative session.
During Wednesday’s meeting, City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow wanted to keep the group in place. His case? Since Tallahassee’s board didn’t evaluate misconduct violations, there was a grey area that made the board worth fighting for.
“I'm looking at our board, which has two functions, one to review Closed investigations, not an investigation, not initiate an investigation, not conduct an investigation, but review the material findings of IA of closed investigations that become public record, and to read those publicly available policy available policies and make recommendations. And to me, it boils down to the only function of the CPRB is an opinion. It's speech,” he said.
City attorney Amy Toman advised against that interpretation. She cites a Miami court case where judges found the opposite.
“The court in that case said, all of these functions, including those last two, are, quote, relating to the investigation of police misconduct or civilian oversight into police misconduct, and the court says these subjects are preempted by the legislative act. The court goes on to say that the only permissible board is the one that is mentioned in the statute and described and defined by the statute,” she said.
The board was established in September 2020 in response to protests over police shootings nationally and locally. As the legislature debated the new law, it frequently cited a conflict in Tallahassee as part of its justification.
In 2022, Tallahassee’s board came under fire after a derogatory message about police was seen on the mug of one of its members. That controversy also caught the attention of Spring Hill Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia, the law’s bill sponsor.