Beaumont council to consider Police Dept. Advisory Committee

     The chief of police plans to tell Beaumont City Council what he thinks about creating a police department advisory committee.

     Earlier this year some citizens asked Beaumont Council to create a citizens review board to help examine cases involving the use of force. Beaumont City council will review and discuss the issue in a work session after its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

     Several times in the past people have asked the city to create a citizens review board.

      The most recent request came after two Beaumont Police Officers were indicted for official oppression after hitting Derrick Newman with a baton 13 times and using a taser on him at least twice. Some citizens questioned why the case against the officers involved was handled internally and not reported to the district attorney's office.

     Friday Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames and City Manager Kyle Hayes both declined to comment on the consideration of an advisory committee. Police Chief Frank Coffin has not yet returned calls to his office.

     Ward Four Councilman Jamie Smith is out of town. We spoke with him by phone Friday afternoon. He said he's very interested in hearing the chief's' findings and a lot of other citizens are, too."

     At-Large Councilman W.L. Pate said, "We want to look at everything with an open mind to see if this serves the citizens' interest and at a later date possibly move forward with that program."

     As always, the meeting is open to the public. It's scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 in the afternoon at the new larger council chambers.