Based on last week's council proceedings, it seems that the wild card is Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who is very open to the idea of civilian review. It is also clear that Kroeker's influence has suffered significantly during his first 12 months on the job. He was not called upon for his views until two hours and five minutes into the discussion, and when he did speak, it was a far cry from his earlier uncompromising stance against civilian review. The question is the quality of the investigation. They note, as Katz did Thursday, that the current crew of citizens on the board often seems baffled about police work.
Officers understandably fear giving such a group more power over discipline and their careers.
At the same time, King knows that to make no changes could be even worse. That's because a group called the Police Accountability Campaign looms in the background of the council debate. Last year, PAC attempted to put a civilian-review measure on the ballot. After the ballot language was held up in court, the group fell short of the 26,000 required signatures in the 10 weeks it had left. They're ready to go again in 2002.