The Fort Worth police chief proposed a version of a civilian oversight board during a council work session this month that some city leaders and activists say lacks the independence needed for true police oversight and reform.

Three months after Fort Worth City Council members voted down a proposal, Chief Neil Noakes proposed his own version of the board on Feb. 7.

Noakes said the difference with his proposed Community Advisory Board is that it brings the community and police department together to create “long-lasting solutions” for Fort Worth.

But council members and community leaders seemed taken aback by the chief’s proposal, especially because Noakes announced he had already selected 13 of the 19 possible board members.

After Noakes finished his presentation, several council members said they were concerned about the lack of independence and community input in the chief’s proposal. Councilwoman Gyna Bivens said at the work session that “it was a slap in the face that members of color on this council have been strategically left out of this process.”

Other council members, such as Carlos Flores, told the Star-Telegram the chief’s idea seemed solid, if in need of workshopping.

Noakes said he did not intend the proposal to be a final version of the Community Advisory Board and he is open to working with city leaders to make the board “community facing and community focused.”

For years, some city leaders, activist groups and community members have called for oversight of the police department, especially in the wake of protests after a then-Fort Worth police officer shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, in her home in 2019.

“This is what happens in this city,” said Pamela Young, criminal justice organizer with United Fort Worth. “When the people rise up against police discrimination and police brutality, the elected powers that be say we’re here to listen, we’re going to do a task force, we’re going to do a committee. But it’s disingenuous. Because they know it will have no power.”

Because the chief created the board, the council will not vote on whether it will be implemented — the Community Advisory Board will be active as soon as all the positions are filled, according to the police department.

History of oversight board

Fort Worth community members have been calling for effective police oversight for decades. Calls for a civilian review board specifically began in earnest in December 2016, when a viral video of the arrest of Jacqueline Craig sparked outrage. Craig had called police to report that a neighbor assaulted her 7-year-old son, but she and her two teenage daughters were arrested instead.

The arrest was the impetus for the formation of the Race and Culture Task Force, a group in charge of investigating racial inequities in Fort Worth and making recommendations to the city. The task force made 20 recommendations in 2018. The recommendation at the top of the report: some form of civilian oversight that would “have an active role in police accountability and oversight.”

In 2020, the city started the Office of Police Oversight Monitor. The police monitor’s role included setting criteria for the proposed review board and providing their own oversight of the department.

But the creation of a truly community-driven oversight board has been elusive.

City leaders have largely disagreed on the specifics of the board’s operations. Some council members argued there was no need for the board at all.

On Nov. 8, a version of a civilian review board was put to a vote. The proposal was the culmination of years of revisions and recommendations. Young said it was a “watered-down” proposal that had taken the teeth out of effective oversight.

Noakes campaigned against the civilian review board. The night of the vote, he addressed the council. He said the police department was not involved enough in creating the proposal, and police chiefs in other cities with similar boards said they were detrimental to community and police relations.

The council voted down the proposal. Council members Flores, Michael Crain, Alan Blaylock and Leonard Firestone, as well as Mayor Mattie Parker, voted “no.” All three Black council members — Bivens, Chris Nettles and Jared Williams — and Elizabeth Beck voted “yes.”

The rejection hit Black city leaders especially hard.

“I had to fight tooth and nail just to get the watered-down proposal we ended up with,” Young said. “I’m glad it failed because it’s trash, it’s garbage. But I had to fight tooth and nail just to get the trash.”

Independent oversight

Noakes’ 15-minute presentation to city leaders on Feb. 7 laid out the Community Advisory Board’s duties, goals and members.

Unlike the Task Force’s recommendations, the chief’s Community Advisory Board would not be independent from the police department. Organizationally, the Community Advisory Board will work under the department.

The board will review and make recommendations on police policy and procedures as well as take complaints. Notably, the chief’s written presentation did not have “oversight” in its list of duties. The training and orientation of members would take place under multiple city entities, including the police department.

“Instead of creating a community board that will put us at odds with one another, let’s invite an opportunity that allows us to work together,” Noakes said at the meeting. “Instead of placing us in different silos, let’s all come to the same table and work together. Instead of keeping us separate and apart and talking about each other, let’s come together and talk to each other.”

The Task Force recommended a civilian board have the ability to independently investigate the police department. Proponents of a board independent from the department say the department’s involvement in such a board corrupts potential reform.

Cory Session, who served on the Race and Culture Task Force, said the chief’s Community Advisory Board is a “white-washing” of the oversight community members want. Citizens who have a negative interaction with a police officer, he said, might not feel safe going to a board that works with the very entity they had a bad experience with.

“You need to empower your citizens to have faith that if they report someone, it’s not going to get swept away under the rug,” he said.

Young expressed the same concerns. The chief’s proposed board creates a “glaring conflict of interest,” Young said, because “the entity for which we are seeking oversight and accountability is now in charge of picking the people who are going to oversee them.”

Community-driven?

Estrus Tucker, who was a facilitator between the city and the Race and Culture Task Force, said it was a difficult decision when the chief asked Tucker if he would be a member of the Community Advisory Board.

Tucker, who is the co-founder of DEI Consultants LLC, said he trusts the chief and believes most of the Fort Worth police command staff “have the right heart and right mind.” But he knew his decision would likely be criticized by some.

Tucker agreed to be on the board, saying he believes he can advocate for the community as a member. But he has his own critiques of the board he is now a part of — notably, Tucker said the board lacks critical input from the community.

“It is similar to the oversight board intent, but the structure and process are very different,” Tucker said. “It’s a very, very important endeavor… But it is in the chief’s domain.”

He specifically does not see any representation for communities most impacted by police violence. As a Black man, he counts himself as part of that community. But, he said, “it is not the same as people in the community who feel betrayed, who feel victimized and wounded and have not had a seat at the table.”

Noakes said the advisory board will be community focused, and his main goal is creating open conversation. In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Noakes spoke earnestly about the need for people who disagree with one another to sit down and have hard conversations. Noakes said this is the key to Fort Worth finding long-term solutions.

One of Noakes’ criticisms of the previously proposed board was that the department “did not have a seat at the table.” Noakes said he compromised in other areas, like agreeing that any officers on the board should not have voting power. But he believes his goal of “finding common ground” between the community and police will happen best when police are part of the effort.

Noakes said when he made his own proposal, he combined the Civilian Review Board concept with the Chief’s Advisory Board — a pre-existing Fort Worth Police Department board that hears community concerns and advises the chief on policies.

“We want people who will come and have the hard conversations with us that some communities have been having for decades and generations,” he said. “We all know we’re not perfect. As long as humans are a part of this department, it will not be perfect.”

Board members

During his presentation, Noakes said he had selected 13 of the 19 board members. The board members include leaders from various Fort Worth organizations, including the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, MHMR, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Indian American Friendship Council, NAACP and One Safe Place.

Young said those on the board do not represent people who are directly impacted by police violence, and leave out community members who are already advocating for effective oversight. The 13 board members do not include anyone from the Tarrant County Coalition for Community Oversight or United Fort Worth, for example.

Multiple people also pointed to the lack of young people on the board as a significant oversight.

Noakes agrees young people need to be represented on the board. Last week, he said he was having discussions with young candidates to serve on the board.

Flores, councilman for District 2, said he hopes to see more Hispanic representation.

“For me, being a sole Hispanic council member, I think it’s important too that we look at having representation of the Hispanic population,” he said. “It’s large, it’s not just one group, one person. The Hispanic population is a diverse group in itself.”

Nettles said the council had no input on who the chief selected.

“We proposed that the council selects and appoints (members). What he suggested was he gets to be the chooser, the picker and who they report to,” Nettles said. “He’s the judge and jury and everything.”

Noakes said he did not handpick members, but instead reached out to Fort Worth organizations and asked who in those groups would be a good fit. He said he specifically wanted community members on the board who “will tell us what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong.”

Some members, he said, have had negative interactions with law enforcement and with Fort Worth police specifically.

“We have to be able to talk to people who are not going to tell us what we want to hear,” he said. “If we don’t bring them to the table, we are not going to be able to see blind spots that we wouldn’t see.”

Future of community oversight

Proponents of an independent oversight board worry about its future in the wake of the Community Advisory Board implementation.

Tucker said he hopes Noakes does not see the Community Advisory Board as a replacement for an independent board, because the community wants and needs an independent group.

When asked whether the city would still have a need for an independent oversight board, Noakes said the Community Advisory Board “can 100% get the job done” and a second board would be “a bit redundant.”

“What we have would fit the bill,” he said. “Does it meet exactly what the council proposed? No. But I think we can do something a bit different in Fort Worth.”

Noakes said he would, however, work with whatever the council creates. Noakes said he plans to talk with the council again next month to continue revisions to the Community Advisory Board.

Nettles said he plans to keep pushing for an independent board. The council should be able to have discussion in the spring about the board’s creation, he said. However, he worries the proposal will face even more pushback because of the chief’s board.

“Initially, the people who were against (an oversight board) wanted to give the chief time to present something,” he said. “And now they’re going to say, ‘We have this already.’”

Mayor Parker’s office did not respond to requests to comment on the chief’s plans. At the work session, she said the conversation was “one of the most difficult issues we’ve faced as a council.”

“This is just another starting point. I by no means think this is a final solution for where we need to be, because at the end of the day, we want to be an example in this country of what police and community can look like,” Parker said. “And I think we can get there together.”

Young, who has been working toward a community oversight board for years, said the chief’s board “has nothing to do with what we’ve been asking for.”

“Effective oversight is about accountability. It is about transparency and it is about fair and equitable policing in every community,” Young said. “It is not about being against the police or individuals in the police department. It’s about what it is we’re asking for: accountability, transparency and fair and equitable policing through effective oversight.”