The appointment of a former Chattanooga Police Department sergeant to the city’s new Police Advisory and Review Committee came under scrutiny again Tuesday by both council members and members of the public.
When District 1 Commissioner Chip Henderson appointed Rick Mincy, a retired Chattanooga police sergeant who left the department after more than two decades of service in 2014, to the citizen oversight committee last week, District 5 Councilman Russell Gilbert and District 9 Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod voted against the appointment, opposing the idea that any present or former Chattanooga police officer would be on the board.
During Tuesday afternoon’s Strategic Planning Meeting, Coonrod first called for the council to allow citizens to vote in a referendum to remove the board from under the council, making it more independent, adding that she was working with the city attorney to draft such legislation.
Then she called for the council to prevent former police from being on the board in the future.
Sylvester Harris, a member of the police advisory and review committee, speaks during a city council meeting at the John P. Franklin Sr. City Council Building on Tuesday, July 16, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Harris opposes the appointment of current or former police officers to the committee.“And I’m really concerned about having an ex-officer serving on the board. I know it’s our councilman’s choice and it was an oversight on our part that we didn’t pick it up while we were combing through,” Coonrod said. “I think [having a former Chattanooga officer] defeats the purpose of creating the board.”