Advisory board possible for police


The Vance County Coalition Against Violence is pushing ahead with plans for a citizens advisory board to the Henderson Police Department, with the hope of addressing and avoiding complaints about the conduct of officers.

The Rogers Group’s Cliff Rogers told Thursday night’s meeting of the coalition that he has talked to Chief Glen Allen about the group’s idea of establishing such an advisory board, and “he thought it was a good idea.”

It’s an idea that arose a couple of years ago but went nowhere. Carrying a lot of momentum in the community, the coalition hopes that this time will be different.

Rogers said the board would allow the community to air “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

The ugly includes complaints such as those brought by the Rev. C.J. Dale four times in the past year. The pastor of Burning Bush Christian Church has called for Allen’s ouster for a failure to prevent what Dale considers brutal and even racist behavior by officers.

Coalition member Cathy Ringley noted Thursday night that word is out this week that the SBI has declined requests from Allen and District Attorney Sam Currin to launch a probe of the Police Department.

In a letter sent to Currin in November that city officials first saw in the past two weeks, the SBI said it couldn’t get involved because the complaints would not lead to criminal charges. The SBI made no judgment on the officers’ conduct.

That decision makes something like a citizens advisory board more urgent, Ringley said. “A whole lot of people are going to be hot about the SBI not stepping in.”

Ringley, Rogers, Board of Education member Margaret Ellis, Lighthouse Entertainment head Nancy Smith and Kevin Burton are among the coalition members who volunteered to work on the board’s creation, which coalition Chairwoman Elnora O’Hara said should be changed from a long-term goal to a short-term priority.