FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to install a new 24-member board to focus on police and criminal justice review.
The board’s power will be limited. Commissioners said it is meant to address tensions between police and the public.
“This is investigating general trend practices and patterns,” Commissioner Michael Udine said during the commission meeting. “This is not for anything specific on any specific isolated case.”
Commissioners will be choosing nine of the 24 members. The Broward Sheriff, or a designee, and a member chosen by the Police Chiefs Association, will be able to vote. The rest of the members will include experts in mental health and local social justice activists.
Kimberly Maroe, a spokeswoman for the Broward County Board of County Commission, said all of the members will have the power to vote.
Broward County Mayor Dale Holness drafted the ordinance to implement the board after George Floyd died at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.
“It’s not to punish police officers,” Holness said. “It doesn’t have the ability to do so.”
The other 15 panel members will be nominated or represented by several local agencies.
Here is the list:
- President of the Broward County Bar Association
-President of the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association
-President of the T.J. Reddick Bar Association
-President of the Caribbean Bar Association
-One member from the Broward Public Defender
-One nomination from the Broward State Attorney
-A member of the Broward branch of the NAACP
-One member nominated by a clergy organization or organizations representing a broad range of denominations and faith groups
-One member nominated by New Florida Majority
-One member nominated by Black Lives Matter
-One member who is a Florida-licensed mental health professional, nominated by the chief executive officer of the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition
-One member nominated by the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Greater Fort Lauderdale, Inc.
-One member nominated by the Broward Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
-One member from the Broward County Chiefs of Police Association
-One member from the Broward Sheriff’s Office