Lexington Mayor Gorton creates new police post-disciplinary board to review policies
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton announced Friday the creation of a new police disciplinary review board that would examine past disciplinary actions and make policy and other recommendations.
“People across our country, including people in Lexington, are demanding more accountability and transparency in the way police are disciplined, and we have heard them,” Gorton said. “I think our police are excellent. I believe by establishing this process of providing external, after-action input and review, we can make them even stronger.”
The new board, which will include citizens, will only look at discipline cases that have already been approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. It will not review current complaints against an officer or make a determination on those complaints.
The board will not have the ability to reverse or change an officer’s punishment. It will only be able to make suggestions on possible changes to disciplinary or general police policy going forward. Gorton has not yet named the board. Its start date has also not yet been established.
Gorton said a post-disciplinary review board will not violate the police collective bargaining agreement or run afoul of various state laws that govern police disciplinary procedures.
“This is something that we can do without a change in state law,” Gorton said during a press conference announcing the change on Friday.
When asked if she would push for changes in state law, Gorton said she had not yet had time to look at the state laws that govern police disciplinary procedures.
“This may not be a perfect solution but is a solid next step and it is something that we can do now,” Gorton said.
Gorton said she is open to considering a citizens police review board, which would decide police disciplinary cases. However, that would take a change in state law. Louisville has had a citizens review board, yet questions about the oversight of the Louisville Metro Police have continued after its creation.
Gorton said she would like to see more data and evidence showing that citizens review boards are effective.
Details of how the post-discipline review board will work are unresolved. It’s likely the group will focus on more recent closed or approved disciplinary cases, she said. State law prohibits the release of any information about a pending complaint against an officer until the disciplinary action has been approved.
The mayor’s announcement comes as the Lexington council weighs possible changes to police disciplinary procedure in the wake of calls for more transparency.
A Wednesday evening meeting to take public comment on police accountability was hijacked by more than a dozen calls by anonymous trolls yelling racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and misogynistic comments.
On Thursday, the council agreed during its regularly-scheduled meeting to temporarily suspend comments via Zoom until the city can figure out how to better police comments.
“We have had IT and law as well as LexTV working on a different way to manage public comment,” Gorton said Thursday. LexTV is the city’s television channel.
The council has held its meetings via Zoom for several months because of restrictions on crowd size put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Zoom, however, allows people to log on anonymously, making it impossible for the council to know who is a Lexington citizen and who is not. The racist callers were muted by city officials as soon as possible.
Lexington police are still investigating.
Many council members Thursday condemned the actions of the trolls and apologized. Some council members pointed to those comments as reasons why the city must act to address systematic racism and to respond to concerns about police accountability.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay said too often the public has seen the issue as either being pro-police or pro-protester. Protesters have marched for about 20 days on Lexington streets calling for changes in police disciplinary processes to make policing more transparent.
But it’s not one or the other, he said.
“We can support our police, and at the same time establish policies and practices that hold them to the highest possible standard,” Kay said. “We can support them and call for increased transparency and effective discipline when appropriate. We can support the best work they do while calling out those who violate the rights of our citizens.”
Kay said for policing to be effective, it must be fair to all citizens.
“We all share an interest in ensuring that policing, like all other aspects of our community, is fair, effective, and committed to the sanctity of human life and the dignity of each person,” Kay said. “That is basic for a great community. Drawing sharp lines and choosing sides is not necessary in that effort, and ultimately is not helpful.”
Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds echoed Kay’s comments. If policing is not fair to all people, it does not work.
“I have to ask myself if I were frequently threatened, like I was last night, if my friends and family were killed unfairly, if people of my skin tone were oppressed for hundreds of years, what would I do?” Reynolds said. “I am sure that I would take to the streets. I would ask for reform, and I would be livid to say the least. ... Moving forward, I would like to sincerely ask each of my colleagues, Chief Weathers, the FOP and all of our residents to collaborate for the well-being of our entire city, not just for those who share my experience and my appearance.”
