Nutter names 24 to Police Community Oversight Board

Mayor Nutter on Friday named a diverse group of 24 people to oversee the implementation of the 91 recommendations made last month in a U.S. Department of Justice report that found that Philadelphia police used lethal force too often.

The newly created Police Community Oversight Board will also work on implementing the broader recommendations made in President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report, which made similar suggestions. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey chaired the task force.

The group includes City Council members, representatives from the Fraternal Order of Police and NAACP, clergy groups, local attorneys, and activists.

"They represent a variety of professions, some from the judicial system and some not, from communities across the city. They share that vision to make policing in Philadelphia better," Nutter said during a news conference announcing the board.

Among the recommendations made by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was for the Police Department to establish a specialized unit to investigate all deadly force incidents; train all its officers in the use of Tasers; and integrate the two boards that review officer-involved shootings into one entity that includes at least one civilian member.

The study was conducted at Ramsey's request after police-involved shootings in the city soared in 2012.

The day the report was released, Ramsey pledged to move quickly to implement the recommendations. The following day, Nutter named Temple University Law School dean JoAnne Epps chair of the Police Community Oversight Board.

The board is expected to continue working through the next administration.

"Their work will advance our efforts to create a more responsive, more ethical, more service-oriented Police Department, a department whose members respect all Philadelphians and earn the public's respect by virtue of their professionalism," Nutter said.

Also working alongside the group will be Police Capt. Jacqueline Bailey Pittman, an 18-year veteran, who will serve as a liaison between the Police Department and the Police Community Oversight Board.

Bailey Pittman said there was always room for improvement and more training. "Things won't get better if we don't change," she said.

Asked whether her 6,000 colleagues would feel the same way, she answered: "If there's some resistance, it's because they don't understand."

Nina Ahmad, JNA Capital executive vice president and chair of Mayor's Commission on Asian American Affairs

Kelvyn Anderson, executive director of the Police Advisory Commission

Kenneth Naroen Chhin, 1 Love Movement

Richard Costello, FOP Lodge 5 political coordinator

Edwin Desamour, executive director of MIMIC Inc. (Men in Motion in the Community)

Liz Dow, Leadership Philadelphia CEO

Joe Garcia, Temple University police captain

Charles Gibbs, lawyer

Bobby Henon, city councilman

Abby Stamelman Hocky, executive director, Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

John Hollway, executive director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law

Carlton Johnson, lawyer

Dorothy Johnson-Speight, executive director of Mothers in Charge

Pastor Damone Jones, Bibleway Baptist Church

Curtis Jones Jr., city councilman

Rue Landau, executive director of the Human Relations Commission

Mohammad Rizwan Mallick, local business owner

Minister Rodney Muhammad, president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP

Maria Quiñones Sánchez, city councilwoman

Pedro Ramos, lawyer and former head of the School Reform Commission

Ellen Somekawa, executive director, FACTS Charter School

Joy Soto, executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Commission

Alan Yatvin, lawyerEndText