Columbus Police Department has hit another snag in increasing its officer numbers, but Police Chief Oscar Lewis said he’s hopeful more new hires are on the horizon.
Lewis discussed the department’s staffing level during Thursday’s CPD Oversight Committee meeting.
CPD recently sent four officers to the state academy for certification. However, Lewis said only one has returned to the department.
“We had one not able to meet the entry standards,” he said. “We had three complete that week. Out of those, one resigned and one just didn’t show up or contact us again.”
That leaves CPD with only 46 sworn officers, Lewis said, compared to 67 slots for which the department is budgeted.
Lewis, in response to a question from committee Chairman Rev. Steven James, said CPD has several prospective officers working through the application process. He said 19 officer candidates took a physical fitness test on Jan. 21.
“Out of that 19, we had 13 strong candidates to do very well,” he said. “One was eliminated through background, but they all passed really strong on the physical part of it.”
CPD has taken steps to hasten the application process, Lewis said. Notably, he said the department successfully requested the city’s Civil Service Commission reduce the retest wait time after a candidate fails a physical fitness test from 90 days to 30 days.
Four of CPD’s officers are likely to be appointed to a joint drug task force with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department. Both the city and county approved the inter-local agreement to form the task force. The agreement is awaiting final approval from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s office.
Mayor Robert Smith said he viewed the task force as gaining help for city law enforcement because four sheriff’s department deputies will work alongside the four CPD officers on the unit. The task force’s focus on drug crimes will likely also free CPD investigators to work more efficiently on other cases.
“We gain four drug dogs, too,” City Chief Operations Officer David Armstrong told committee members. “We’ve got one drug dog and the county, as I understand it, has four.”
The ‘Blue Wall of Silence’
During the meeting, James asked Lewis if the police department would properly discipline, or even terminate, “bad apple” officers. James, saying he’s heard citizens question the matter, referred to the “blue wall of silence,” or the idea that officers don’t report fellow officers’ wrongdoings.
“The police department wants the community to give up people when they’re wrong,” James said. “But … if you’ve got 99.9 percent great officers and you have that one that’s a bad apple, the community expects the police department to give up that bad apple, as well. Don’t cover up for them or protect them.”
Lewis said it’s always been his personal policy to report issues when they arise. He said he maintains that policy as police chief.
“As chief of police, when I came here it was about accountability,” he added. “That’s the only way we can have trust, if we hold officers accountable, and I hope we don’t have any specific instances I need to look into that they’re specifically talking about that hasn’t been addressed. We’ll open up complaints and look into everything that we need to look at. That’s just what we have to do.”
According to information the city provided in response to a Dispatch public records request last fall, five patrolmen received a total of 73 suspended work days for department violations in the first 10 months after Lewis’ hire (through September 2016). The bulk of that comes from Kenyada Blair, who was suspended for 60 work days in July after getting into a fight with a citizen at McDonald’s. She resigned in September after Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office arrested her for a domestic violence incident against the same citizen at her home.
Turner meets committee
Consultant K.B. Turner briefly joined the meeting remotely via Skype to introduce himself to committee members. The city hired Turner in January to conduct a six-month review of the police department.
During his introduction, Turner praised the efforts the city has taken, such as the oversight committee, to improve civilian involvement in the police department. He said increased community involvement will be needed to continue improving CPD.
“The community must galvanize some sense of cohesion if we are going to realize any difference and improvement with respect to making the department more effective, more efficient and ultimately more responsive,” Turner said.
Turner pointed out that it will take time — longer than he will be working with CPD–for the department’s improvements to come to fruition. He said his work was to help set up the “infrastructure” that should help create long-term improvements.
“This will not happen overnight,” he said. “There’s no magic wand, no secret bullet or anything like that. It’s going to take all of us to really play a role in this.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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