Who’s really in charge of Bradenton’s police? Charter referendum lets voters decide
Voters will determine who is truly in charge of the police department following more than a year of the Bradenton City Council’s ongoing debate.
City officials first began updating their city charter in June 2019, when residents called for more police oversight, but those powers belong to the mayor, who serves as police commissioner. If approved, the referendum vote would remove that role from the mayor’s duties and have the chief report directly to City Council.
Police Chief Melanie Bevan declined to share her stance on the issue.
“It would be inappropriate for me to share my opinion on a proposed change to the City of Bradenton Charter, which could directly impact my position as Chief of Police,” Bevan wrote in an email to the Bradenton Herald.
As police commissioner, the mayor appoints the police chief and receives daily briefings related to department operations. According to the charter, the mayor is also tasked with reporting to the council “all violations or neglect of duty on the part of any city official that may come to his knowledge.”
Some council members have argued that the police department should report to the entire council. Other city departments, such as the public works, planning and fire departments, report directly to the council. The police department should work the same way, they said.
Who’s in charge of the Bradenton Police Department?
“In this day and age, one individual should not have all that power, influence and oversight over that particular department,” Councilman Harold Byrd, Jr., who is running for mayor, said during a recent candidate debate. “It needs more input.”
But Mayor Wayne Poston strongly disagrees. Earlier this summer, he vetoed a first attempt to put the referendum question on the November ballot, calling it a “power grab.” Defending his action at the time, Poston argued that paramilitary organizations work best with a single leader at the top.
“You cannot run a police department by committee,” Poston said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. “I think everybody should vote against changing the city charter.”
Poston worked as a Bradenton Herald executive editor for more than 20 years before he was elected mayor in 1999. He is not running for re-election in November.
According to Poston, the council hasn’t provided a clear explanation for how it would oversee the police department efficiently.
“There’s just too many minds trying to be involved. It needs a single leader at the top,” Poston argued. “That’d be like if Congress was trying to run the FBI.”
Councilman Patrick Roff says the charter amendment is solely an attempt to clarify an inaccurate description of the mayor’s powers. The charter, which was first published in 1903, does not specifically refer to a police commissioner, and Roff argues that Poston has latched onto powers he does not have.
The charter says the police chief is “subject to the commands of the mayor” but also notes that the chief is expected to “execute the command of the council while in session.”
“The assertion is that the City Council is making a power grab. That power grab has already taken place,” Roff said. “There is no police commissioner, and I’m being accused of a crime that’s already been committed.”
The City Council’s desire to oversee the police department would only result in inefficient micromanagement, said Councilman Gene Gallo, who previously served as the chief of the Bradenton Fire Department for about 11 years.
“When I was fire chief, I would have different council people come to me with their thoughts on how to do something, and sometimes it was the same issue with two different thoughts,” Gallo said. “That doesn’t work.”
Mailers say council may defund the police
Florida Citizens for Economic Prosperity, a political action committee formed less than a month ago, recently sent out mailers labeling the charter amendment an attempt to “put local politicians who may want to defund the police in charge of the Bradenton Police Department.”
A Bradenton Herald review found that the mailers appear to be connected to the same Tampa-based political consulting firm that former Councilman Gene Brown paid nearly $37,000 to design, print and distribute mailers. Brown’s campaign reported making the expenditure on the same day the PAC was formed, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
“All I know is I got one of those fliers in the mail,” Brown said when asked if his campaign was connected to the PAC.
Brown resigned from the council earlier this summer in order to run for the mayor’s seat. Following his resignation, City Council voted again to place the referendum on the ballot with enough votes to override any possible veto.
Brown, who previously voted against the proposed charter amendment, made the same argument detailed in the mailer, however.
“I believe we needed to get more citizen involvement and I do not believe the council should be in charge. I believe the police department is different from the standpoint of protecting our city,” Brown said.
The Bradenton Police Department employs about 120 sworn officers and is the city’s most expensive department. City Council recently approved a $19 million annual budget. Bevan, who is not an elected official, is responsible for the department’s day-to-day operations.
“I’ll say this straight out: I do not believe this council would start a process to defund the police, but in two years, we could have a different council,” Brown said. “When you look at most of the cities that have had looting and destruction, the councils there are the ones in charge of the police department.”
Roff said those mailers are inaccurate. Even without citizens approving the charter change, the City Council already has the ability to adjust the department’s budget.
“What’s the nation clamoring for right now? More oversight of the agency that runs around and polices,” Roff said. “We have the ability to defund the police right now, but instead, we expanded their budget. I don’t need a charter change to be able to do that.”
“That flier really ticked me off,” Councilman Bill Sanders added. “If I wanted to defund them, now would’ve been the time to do it because we just had our revenue cut by 5 or 10 percent. We gave them a raise and now we’re considering body cameras. If anything, they’re overfunded right now.”
Filling Brown’s empty Ward 2 seat, Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey voted in support of putting the charter amendment question on the ballot, but she isn’t advocating for a specific position.
“I actually came into the situation in the ninth inning,” Barnebey said. “But I have always supported the citizens’ right to weigh in on how they believe their government can serve them best, so that’s why I voted to have this on the ballot.”
“Each citizen needs to look at what those amendments can mean and how it affects the future of Bradenton,” she continued. “I don’t like anyone telling me how to vote, so I never tell anyone else how to vote.”
Bradenton citizens to provide police oversight
Poston pointed to BPD’s new Citizens Advisory Committee, which will address community concerns beginning later this month, as an example of the department’s commitment to transparency.
“We don’t have many issues, and that’s because we make time to meet with citizens in every one of the wards that we show up to. People know our policemen by name,” he noted. “That change has been since I’ve been mayor because we want a good relationship all across the city.”
According to Barnebey, the diverse, seven-member board is strong first step when it comes to increasing public trust.
“As I understand it, the community advisory board is made up of individuals from very different segments in the community that have very different strengths, gifts and talents,” Barnebey said. “It is my hope that they are very successful in bridging the gap between our police department our citizens because I do believe there is a gap.”
Other council members are wary of the committee, which was introduced shortly after Poston vetoed the council’s first attempt to put the charter referendum on the ballot. Roff previously served on a similar board for former Police Chief Michael Radzilowski and doesn’t believe its reincarnation will have the power to make a difference.
“It doesn’t have any authority to do anything. I don’t want to disrespect our chief and I don’t want to disrespect the people who volunteered to be on it, but it has no power,” Roff said. “It says right in there that it has no power for oversight or the power to investigate.”
The committee’s main purpose is to ensure that citizen complaints are addressed and review the police department’s policies. The board, which meets for the first time on Oct. 28 at City Hall, does not have the power to independently investigate any allegations of wrongdoing by the department or any of its officers. It also does not have the power to discipline any officers.
“The board doesn’t have a set of rules, procedures or policies that satisfies the needs of the citizens,” Sanders said. “This started over a year ago, and we could have had an advisory board then. It seems like a failed attempt to make excuses for why we want to be the ones to review the Bradenton Police Department.”
There are two other charter amendment questions on the ballot, as well. The first clarifies the power of the vice mayor and the second removes archaic, gender-specific language from the charter. Early voting begins Oct. 19 and Election Day is Nov. 3.
“Even if this doesn’t pass, this is not the end of the story. There still needs to be a full review,” Roff suggested. “Our charter is a flawed document.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 5:31 AM.
