Richmond's Community Police Review Commission is seeking to redefine its mission, recommending amendments to its founding ordinance that commissioners say would sharpen the group's focus on independent oversight of the city's police department.
In a vote, the commission proposed changes to Chapter 3.54 of the municipal code. The changes aim to shift away from what some members called an outdated emphasis on promoting "positive relations" between police and the community. Instead, the revised language would be centered on transparency and accountability as the commission's core purpose.
If adopted, the updated ordinance would represent a significant shift in the commission's identity — from a liaison fostering goodwill to a watchdog agency tasked with ensuring public trust through independent scrutiny.
Some members said the commission's current stated purpose — to "promote positive relations" between the public and police and to advise city leadership on department matters — does not fully reflect the breadth of the commission's responsibilities.
"The reason why we were working on the stated purpose," said Chair Carmin Martinez at last week's meeting, "is because the current language does not include our evolving responsibilities and functions. We honestly think that it should guide our commission's current roles and responsibilities — to clearly highlight the functions of oversight, transparency, and accountability."
The revised mission statement includes explicit mention of the commission's responsibility to conduct "independent, impartial, and fair investigations of complaints," language that Martinez said was essential to public trust. "A lot of people automatically would assume that we are here to work for the police, and that's not the case. We collaborate with them, but our role is essentially to investigate all complaints made against officers that fall within the criteria."
Benjamin Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, spoke during the meeting, accusing several commissioners of harboring anti-police bias and using the commission to push a political agenda.
"I'm glad that some people finally just came out and said how they really feel — that they just hate the police, and they hate this part of the ordinance because it's not aligned with their narrow political agenda," Therriault said.
Therriault criticized efforts to change the commission's stated purpose related to police oversight.
"Obviously, it's already encoded, written in there for transparency and for investigations of things that occur with police officers in the city of Richmond, and it just goes to show that you are finally coming out and it's about time," Therriault said. "Instead of hiding behind the ball and actually saying, You know what, we don't really like police. That's clear. That's been clear since Jerry (Threet) left."
Former Investigative and Appeals Officer Jerry Threet, who resigned last year, accused commissioners in his resignation letter of disregarding evidence, making biased decisions, and failing to thoroughly review investigative materials before reaching conclusions.
Resigning investigator criticizes police commission’s ability to review complaints against officers
Threet said he no longer believes the commission can be relied upon to reach a valid finding on allegations of officer misconduct based on an objective, unbiased view of the evidence.
Soren Hemmila
"Several of you can't even have an AR-15 pistol, which is commonly called an assault rifle, in someone's hands. You can't even find an officer exonerated for that," Therriault said.
Therriault said the current direction of the commission aligns with a predictable pattern.
"It's pretty on par with what you guys are doing. I'm not surprised," he said. "I expect you to be the anti-police commission. That's pretty much the path that you guys have been on."
Not all commissioners agreed on the exact wording. Commissioner Carol Hegstrom raised concerns about clarity, suggesting the new language should more specifically state that the commission's role is to "build public confidence in the police department."
"I just thought that the wording leaves it somewhat ambiguous," Hegstrom said. "If we're going to build public confidence, we should be specific about what we're building public confidence in — and that's by holding the police department accountable."
Others pushed back on centering the police in the statement at all.
Commissioner Marisol Cantú countered, "This is the commission's purpose, not the police's. We are independent of the police. And so if we forefront the police, I actually think we become very biased automatically."
Commissioner dialogue also reflected deeper philosophical divisions over the nature of oversight itself. Commissioner Andre Jackson expressed a desire for more balance.
"I want to be fair to the police department. I want to be fair to the community as much as I can," Jackson said. "It seemed like we're just anti-police."
Ultimately, the commission voted to forward the amended language as a recommendation to the Richmond City Council, which will review and potentially revise the language further.
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