Mayor reverses funding cut for Office of Citizen Complaint Review
Good news!
A couple of weeks ago (see Related Links), we urged Mayor Williams to reverse his budget office's proposed 46 percent cut in the FY 2002 budget of the recently-opened Office of Citizen Complaint Review (which provides independent investigation of citizen complaints of police abuse).
The Mayor was listening. Today, at the Mayor's preview of his budget presentation (held before a couple of hundred community activists in Room 1030 at One Judiciary Square), I raised the issue of the proposed cut in the OCCR budget, and stressed that while a review board function like this -- as with an auditor -- is not glamorous, it is a crucial element of the city's police reform efforts.
When I said this, the Mayor's chief of staff, Abdusalam Omer, immediately began nodding, and the Mayor assured me that the proposed budget cut had been reversed.
Thanks to Mayor Williams and his staff for their responsiveness, especially GLBT liaison Philip Pannell for ensuring that the matter received the Mayor's attention. Thanks also to our colleagues on the NAACP-DC Police Task Force, particularly Task Force Chair Mark Thompson and the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, for their timely collaborative efforts.
Rick Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs
and Public Safety Chair
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington