On Tuesday, November 1, the Tampa City Council will host a Charter Review Workshop, where the Council's legal department will present a draft ordinance to put the Citizens Review Board's (CRB) subpoena power and independent council on the ballot in 2023. These two changes will bring more transparency and accountability to police oversight by giving the Citizens Review Board the power to do its job more effectively.
Our recommendations:
- The CRB should appoint and maintain its own independent attorney. Currently, the CRB shares an attorney with the City of Tampa Attorney’s office, which creates an inherent conflict of interest.
- The CRB should be able to obtain other relevant evidence on its own. Currently, the CRB lacks the ability to obtain crucial evidence like doorbell camera or dashcam footage, like CRBs in other cities can. This would not apply to police officers, but the CRB needs to be able to obtain evidence from civilians.
Community members can watch the City Council meeting live by going to https://livestream.com/cityoftampa/cttv during the meeting. Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, livestream.com.
You can make your voice heard on these proposals in a few different ways.
- Contact your councilor directly to urge your support for putting these changes to the CRB on the ballot in March 2023
- Send written comments generally to TampaCityCouncil@tampagov.net or by mail at: City of Tampa City Clerk, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., 3rd Floor, Tampa, FL 33602
- Attend the Charter Review workshop in person at the City Council Chambers located in Old City Hall
- Stream the Workshop online here, or watch via Cable TV on Spectrum Channel 640 or Frontier Channel 15
- Participate in the Workshop directly by providing a written comment or requesting to make a comment virtually during the workshop
