Police departments have elaborate internal affairs departments that are supposed to watch out for police misconduct, and citizen review panels are charged with making sure they do.
But the citizen review board in Fort Lauderdale hasn't received a case from its police department in seven months, and members say that's because over time, its wings have been clipped.
"The only thing that we can do as a board is either to sustain or not sustain the finding of Internal Affairs. That’s all," said Citizens Police Review Panel member Roosevelt Walters, at a meeting Monday night.
It turns out the kind of cases the board gets to review now are only a fraction of the total complaints, just those initiated by citizens -- not by police or law enforcement -- and reviewed by internal affairs -- not police brass.
"If you want look at the cases that were completed, we have nothing to hide," said Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, who also sits on the board.
Adderley said he's doing exactly as he's been directed by his boss, the city manager.
"We complied to that and we’re going to continue to do that unless there’s a change to that," Adderley said.
But City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom said she's aware of the diminishing responsibility of the panel.
"I think they'd like to check and balance a little bit more and if it’s going to make it a better situation for everyone, then I think we should look into that," Rodstrom said.
Eventually the review board decided to ask city leaders for a meeting to discuss whether to expand the definition of the kinds of cases it should be reviewing and also to ask the police department for the total number of complaints received so it can better judge how many cases it's not getting.
