The Charlotte, NC, Citizens Review Board reviewed a fatal police shooting and recommended policy changes for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney Thursday – but the board won’t say what those recommendations are because of state personnel law, reports the Charlotte Observer.
Putney, who has not yet seen the proposals, will review them with City Manager Marcus Jones, a city spokesperson said in a statement. The board arrived at the recommendations after a three-day, closed-door hearing.
In a separate vote, the board split 4-4 on whether Putney was wrong to conclude that Officer Brentley Vinson followed all department policies and procedures in last year’s shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
The Citizens Review Board has never ruled against police in its 20-year history, and city officials said Thursday that this is likely the first tie.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray decided Vinson would face no criminal charges because he was legally justified in shooting Scott. CMPD’s internal investigation determined Vinson violated no department policy or procedure in the case.
The Citizens Review Board provides civilian oversight to the police department’s disciplinary process. Once the internal investigation ended, the Scott family’s lawyers brought the case before the board, which held a preliminary hearing in June and an evidentiary hearing, which ended Thursday.
