Back To News | Back To Standard News
Standard News
Citizen report slams Columbia Police Department
April 10, 2008
Meddlesome public officials, underreporting crime and inadequate salaries have plagued the Columbia Police Department for years, according to a scathing report from a citizens panel charged with reviewing how officers see the department.The problems identified and the solutions presented in the report have been laid out in at least three prior city commissioned studies that the city has taken no action to address.
"I don't have an explanation of that," Mayor Bob Coble said Thursday, but added City Council members voted Feb. 13 to boost salaries and hire 19 more officers with a $2.5 million plan spread out over three years.
"The report is hard-hitting and very sobering," Coble said. "We got what we asked for."
The panel, which was headed by former S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest Finney, was commissioned by the city last year after problems surfaced at the department.
Among the findings:
- Crimes are underreported, contributing to a false sense there is less serious crime in the city and making it seem as though more manpower is less important.
- The command staff fails to serve as positive role models. Some lack real police experience, and many are viewed by younger officers as "old school" and out of touch.
- Training opportunities, after the initial hiring period, are inadequate. In the case of dispatch operators, the lack of training might compromise officer safety.
- Salaries and benefits are noncompetitive and inadequate, and one officer "ashamedly recounted being the recipient of what amounted to a 13-cent per hour raise."
"Columbia ought to be the star of the police force in the state of South Carolina," Finney said. "I think that, somehow or another, they have not been able to hold that top position."
City manager Charles Austin said he has looked into the allegation of underreporting crime and found it isn't true.
In the past two years, data have shown the city's crime rates have declined. Austin said he believes those numbers to be legitimate.
Officers complained of practices of underreporting crime, giving examples that included seven cars broken into on one street being listed as a single break-in.
While the report discussed underreporting of crime, a footnote explained it was a serious allegation and the panel did not have enough information to verify the claims.
The report also briefly addressed the department's promotion practices. It did not specifically refer to a test cheating scandal, but said officers felt promotions were made based on personal relationships, not merit. That perception, it said, was based on a misunderstanding of how scores are evaluated.
The report also called out City Council members for trying to dictate where officers should patrol, based on pressures from special-interest groups, including neighborhood associations, other government officials and family members.
The panel said the practice raises a legal question the city's attorneys should address.
In response, Coble said he plans to ask council to adopt a formal policy dictating when - and how - council members interact with the department.
"Council members have the right and the obligation to point out problems that they see," Coble said. "There just needs to be a transparent policy as to how we will handle that."
Austin said that while council members have contacted the police chief, he isn't aware of any members directing officers where to patrol.
"Well, I don't think it would be appropriate for them to just unilaterally (call the police chief)," Austin said. "In most instances I know of, council members typically will call me and ask if it's OK if they call the chief."
Councilman E.W. Cromartie said he wasn't sure the policy would work, but said he would abide by it if his constituents wanted it.
"(My constituents) will not communicate many things with the police department," Cromartie said. "I contact lots of folks, and that includes the city manager and the police chief."
Austin, who served as police chief until 2003, commissioned the report after allegations that then-chief Dean Crisp had brought family members to crime scenes and shoved another officer.
Crisp, who retired in September, was cleared of any wrongdoing. He had served as Columbia's chief for about three years.
But the panel continued its review. Panel members interviewed more than 40 officers and civilians who work at the department. Each interview lasted 30 minutes and took place at a neutral site.
Council already has addressed the salary issue with the $2.5 million retention program.
The plan is supposed to be added to the upcoming budget, which has to be approved before July 1.
Other findings will be left up to incoming chief Tandy Carter to sort through when he takes office May 1.
"We put a lot of value in that report," Austin said. "We wanted our new chief to come in with a ...perspective of what kind of issues the officers see as being important."
Attempts Thursday to reach Carter were unsuccessful.
The State
By ADAM BEAM
abeam@thestate.com
Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405.