Senate bill banning police review boards moves forward

Two police officers standing on a wet street at dusk on a cloudy day, with red lights reflecting off the ground — Police officers in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 16, 2020. // Photo by Dave Decker c/o Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

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A bill to dismantle police citizen review boards moved forward in the state senate on Wednesday, but critics say the bill would end a program that builds trust between police and the community.

Some of these police citizen review boards were created during the peak of social justice protests after the murder of George Floyd. The bill is sponsored by Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia.

“We got anti-police activists sitting on these boards, in public, with mugs that say ‘F the police’. These boards do nothing but second-guess law enforcement.”

Democratic St. Petersburg Senator Darryl Rouson spoke against the bill. St. Petersburg is one of 21 cities in Florida with citizen review boards. Rouson says the board is working in his community.

“I think that your legislation throws the baby out with the bathwater and forgets the reason why these panels were created in the first place, and that was to build trust. That was to create more transparency and accountability.”

Democratic Senator Shevrin Jones also spoke against the bill.

“While I understand your intent to get rid of boards that serve no purpose, this is not that board.”

The bill advanced through the Senate committee.