‘Sad day.’ Fort Worth’s rejection of police review board leaves Black leaders frustrated

Bob Ray Sanders says the debate over creation of a police advisory board in Fort Worth and the ultimate rejection of the board by the city council is evidence of a racial divide that remains pervasive in the city.

In 2017, Sanders, communications director with the Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and former associate editor and senior columnist at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, began his role as a co-chair of the Race and Culture Task Force, which was formed by the city council to help bridge that divide.

Sanders was reluctant to join the task force. He feared it would go through months of work, only to have its recommendations tossed aside by the city council.

And while he credits the city council for following through on some of the task force’s suggestions to advance racial equity, he said last week’s rejection of the police advisory board — a key recommendation of the task force — shows how much work still needs to be done.

“This community is still one tragic event away from an uproar,” he said.

For those, like Sanders, who invested in the process to improve racial equity, the city council’s decision is a significant disappointment. They want to see the city council have urgency in addressing it again.

The Race and Culture Task Force was created under Mayor Betsy Price, before the majority of the current council members were elected to their positions.

The task force was created after the arrest of Jacqueline Craig in 2016. Craig, who had called Fort Worth police during a dispute with a neighbor, was wrestled to the ground and arrested by an officer. Charges against her were dropped after body camera footage showed the police officer arguing with Craig before tackling her. The leaked footage went viral and led to protests and rallies over police misconduct. Craig was later awarded $150,000 after suing the city.

Since then, a number of police incidents have drawn criticism from community members, including the 2019 killing of Atatiana Jefferson.

The year before Jefferson’s death, the Race and Culture Task Force presented a report to the council with more than 20 recommendations to improve racial and cultural equity in the city.

The task force made the creation of a civilian review board of the police department its top recommendation in the area of criminal justice.

The Office of Police Oversight Monitor was created in 2020 to create criteria for the advisory board and to provide its own oversight and accountability of the department. The majority of the current city council, including Mayor Mattie Parker, were elected after 2020.

Advisory, not oversight

The board that was proposed would not have been an explicit oversight board but would act as an advisory board, according to the city ordinance.

The board would review police policy and practices, serve as an additional avenue for community input and recommend changes to the police chief.

Last week’s 5-4 vote to reject the advisory board saw a split within the council along racial lines, with all three Black council members voting for the advisory board.

Council members Carlos Flores, Michael Crain, Alan Blaylock and Leonard Firestone, as well as Mayor Mattie Parker, voting “no” on the item to create the board. Council members Gyna Bivens, Jared Williams, Chris Nettles and Elizabeth Beck were the “yes” votes for the item.

The rejection came after hours of impassioned comments by the public and council members, with nearly all of the Black residents and community leaders who spoke asking the council to approve the board.

“It was very clear that there was a racial divide on the council, and from those in the audience,” Sanders said. “And that was a sad day for me.”

The council members who opposed the board said it would be redundant to the Office of Police Oversight Monitor, that they needed more time in a work session to iron out details and resolve problems, and that Police Chief Neil Noakes needs more time to work on improving the department internally.

The Office of Police Oversight Monitor recommended the advisory board to the city council as early as September 2021.

Is it anti-police?

Sanders said there are people who want to frame the debate by characterizing those in favor of oversight or review as being against the police.

“And that’s the furthest thing from the truth,” he said. “... The Black community wants police serving their community, but they want people who will serve them correctly, that will serve without prejudice, without overreacting [and] without abuse.”

Sanders said the board is not intended as criticism of the work Noakes has done with the department. The proposal was crafted with significant work by the Race and Culture Task Force, the police monitor, the council and police department officials.

“This was not haphazard, because some people suggested at the meeting, it’s not redundant. It is not anti-police,” Sanders said. “It is not having the chief report to anybody else than he reports to already. It’s saying, ‘Here’s another set of eyes that’s going to review the work and review the policies and recommend things that they think ought to be changed.’ ”

Lillie Biggins, former president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth and another co-chair on the task force, said the advisory board is about doing what’s beneficial for the community and doesn’t take anything away from Noakes’ work.

The advisory board is a continuance of the task force’s work and the commitments the city made, Biggins said.

“What this would do, it would give the chief of police an entire community perspective,” she said. “... And it would give him more resources and give him more support to police input and engagement.”

Police Officer Association

Sanders said those council members who are against the board are against it partly because of the Police Officer Association’s political influence and its opposition to any kind of civilian board.

“But it [isn’t] about that. It’s about the community,” he said. “That’s who we’re serving, the community that had lost trust.”

Sanders said he’s concerned about when the council will bring this proposal up for a vote again. Having to wait for a review board and other improvements for the Black community gets old, he said.

“And there are people who were in that chamber the other night that said they were tired. Just tired of it,” he said. “And I’ve gotten that way too. I’m tired, tired of waiting.”

Councilman Chris Nettles, who championed the creation of the board, said, for him, the conversation is not over. He said he wants to bring the proposal back to a city council work session, even if he doesn’t have faith that fellow council members want to work toward a compromise.

“I’m focused on how do I get this passed, and whatever way that works, that’s the mechanism I’m going to take,” he said.