The Columbia City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Monday that establishes a nine-member Citizens Police Review Board. KBIA's Courtney Flatt has more.

A Citizen Police Review Board will now hear residents' complaints against the Columbia Police Department. The Board will hear appeals after an investigation by the Police Department's Professional Standards Unit.

The Board will be made up of one member of the Commission on Human Rights and eight citizens appointed by the City Council.

Columbia defense attorney David Tyson Smith proposed the Citizen Review Board idea in 2006, and he says he thinks last night's outcome is symbolic of what people can do when they don't give up.

"Now we have a Department, I think, that's better, that's stronger, more accountable, more transparent. I think the level of trust is going to improve between the community and the department now that there's some type of oversight."

Smith says he decided to recommend the Board after hearing complaints from clients, citizens and other attorneys about the Police Department's internal review process.

"What was happening was, people were going in who were treated, mistreated by the police, and they'd go to file a complaint, and they might not get a complaint form, and if they did file a complaint, the department would inevitably come back and say, well we didn't do anything wrong. End of story."

Columbia Police Detective Jeff Westbrook says the Department is ready to work with citizens on the board.

"Well certainly we've maintained for a good period of time that we believe we do a good job at internal investigations, particularly our new Professional Standards Unit. With that said, we participated in this process and had suggestions that were taken. And we're very pleased with the outcome."

The Council recommended several amendments, including incorporating standards from National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, or NACOLE. Westbrook says the department was happy with the NACOLE standards amendment. Board members also cannot have been convicted of serious crimes. © Copyright 2012, KBIA