Nebraska Watchdog quizzes Omaha Mayor on new police oversight panel
Joe Jordan | Nebraska Watchdog
OMAHA—Want a job keeping an eye on police?
Well know this: You don’t get paid and you can’t tell anybody what you find out.
In addition, if you’ve ever been arrested for a felony you are not eligible to serve on Mayor Jean Stothert’s 8-member Citizen Complaint Review Board, expected to be up and running in March.
Stothert will appoint five voting members to the board; one from each of the city’s four police precincts plus one at-large member.
The three other non-voting slots are filled by city employees from the police command staff and the Human Rights and Relations and Law Departments.
The board fills an oversight vacuum that has existed since 2006 when Mayor Mike Fahey eliminated the police auditor’s post.
Stothert says one of her goals is to build trust between police and citizens; trust that helps police solve crimes.
At the same time this panel comes with plenty of questions.
Nebraska Watchdog’s Joe Jordan quizzed (see video above) Stothert and Police Chief Todd Schmaderer on issues ranging from subpoena power to cost.
Contact Joe Jordan at joe@nebraskawatchdog.org and listen to Joe every Monday morning at 7:40 on KFAB radio in Omaha.
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