Golden Valley to Create New Police Commission
Golden Valley officials are revamping the city’s Civil Service Commission, which has a role in hiring police officers. The city is forming a new police commission and wants community members to have input.
The city council decided to form a task force during its Sept. 15 council meeting. The new task force will determine how the new police commission should function. Some say the Civil Service Commission is outdated and limited in its role.
“The Civil Service Commission has just been involved in kind of the formal hiring of officers at this point. It’s always been an option for officers to appeal a termination to the civil service commission, but that hasn’t happened in years,” explained Golden Valley City Council member Gillian Rosenquist.
Golden Valley Seeks Community Members from Various Backgrounds
The goal would be to have a 13-member task force, which would consist of community members from various backgrounds.
“We will be starting with a mission. We will be looking at bylaws that will create that role, and we will be looking at making a larger community group that will be regularly involved in public safety,” said Rosenquist.
Golden Valley officials want the new police commission to have at least seven or eight members that reflect an inclusive and diverse community.
The task force should be in place by November and have recommendations by May. Applications are being accepted for the next three weeks on the Golden Valley website.