The city’s Police Advisory Commission has fewer than half of its allotted number of commissioners, and it’s calling on Mayor Nutter to make new appointments.
“We need some new blood,” openly gay commissioner Chuck Volz said at the PAC’s Oct. 22 meeting.
The PAC is a civilian-oversight agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct and, when appropriate, makes recommendations for remedial action.
The panel’s highest-profile LGBT case involves Nizah Morris, a transgender woman who was found with a fatal head wound in 2002 shortly after receiving a courtesy ride from Philadelphia police.
Her homicide remains unsolved.
The PAC is supposed to have 15 commissioners and four alternate commissioners. But over the course of about two years, 10 members have resigned.
Now, the panel is down to nine commissioners.
The PAC also doesn’t have an executive director due to the departure of head William M. Johnson in July.
Kelvyn Anderson is serving as interim director while the agency searches for a permanent head.
Anderson previously served as deputy director of the PAC.
The PAC needs at least five commissioners at a public meeting for a quorum, so official business can take place.
At last week’s meeting, only four commissioners were present, so no official business could take place.
But during the meeting, PAC members informally discussed various items on their agenda.
At press time, Mark McDonald, a spokesperson for Nutter, had no comment on when the PAC vacancies would be filled.
According to a 1993 executive order establishing the PAC, Philadelphia City Council also helps select commissioners.
But any potential commissioners selected by City Council are vetted by the Nutter administration, to ensure they’re in compliance with basic eligibility requirements.
Kathleen R. Padilla, a local transgender activist, expressed hope that a member of the transgender community would be appointed to the PAC.
Padilla served on the body between 2005-06, but resigned after becoming employed by the city.
“The reasons for diverse representation on a public body are well known,” Padilla said. “They are no different for trans Philadelphians than any other group. The PAC has reviewed and substantiated several cases involving transgender Philadelphians. And one of their longest and most notable unresolved cases involves the homicide of a trans woman [Morris].”
Padilla said a qualified transgender commissioner would enhance the effectiveness of the PAC.
“The PAC’s work will only benefit from having an appropriate appointee from the trans community to foster community relations, assist the PAC in understanding the issues that trans petitioners may bring for investigation, and provide the PAC credibility with this community in its dealings that affect us,” she added. “The work is very analytical, detailed and requires knowledge of legal concepts and management in a bureaucracy. Someone with a law degree would be ideal. But anyone with significant professional experience and advocacy experience could fill the role.”
McDonald, the spokesperson for Nutter, had no comment on whether a transgender person would be appointed to the PAC.
At the Oct. 22 meeting, the commissioners discussed the Morris case. They said they’re hoping to issue a report about the incident in the coming months.
The PAC is trying to determine whether police violated any departmental regulations when handling the incident.
The commissioners have stated repeatedly that they want to review the totality of evidence prior to issuing a report.
But their ability to do that has been called into question, because the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office refuses to account for a police log in the case.
The document could help explain why Officers Thomas Berry, Kenneth Novak and Elizabeth Skala thought Morris wasn’t a 911 target at the time of the ride.
Because of that apparent mistake, the ride wasn’t documented — even after the officers visited Morris at Jefferson University Hospital, where she was brain-dead due to a fractured skull.
At the meeting, PAC members questioned the quality of the homicide investigation in the Morris case.
But they stopped short of saying they’ll try to get the log from the DA’s office — or get certification that it doesn’t have the log.
On another subject, PAC members said they’re looking into the possibility of competitive bidding for legal work needed by the agency, rather than giving the work exclusively to the Center City law firm of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.
PAC members said they’re hoping to hire a Spanish-speaking investigator, and competitive bidding for the legal work could save money and help fund the new position.