BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Common Council has dissolved its own Police Advisory Board citing internal problems and five resignations in the month of February.
A resolution put forward by Niagara District Common Council Member David Rivera ended the program Tuesday afternoon. It was created in 2018 to get more neighborhood input on police reform.
Rivera said only recently did the environment within the board become "toxic." He added that the plan now is to re-build.
"We became aware of the internal strife within the board and we tried our best to be of help," said Council Member Rivera.
He explained that when the council went to review the board's procedures they found no by-laws existed. That's why a separate resolution was put forward in early February to create rules for approving new board members, but a review process for those new members received pushback.
"It's just unfortunate that the problems occurred within the board itself to the point that you just had some really good members resign," Rivera said.
North District Council Member Joe Golombek Jr. said he too heard stories that members of the advisory board turned against the council, the police, and themselves. Golombek was the second needed to pass the resolution.
He told 2 On Your Side Tuesday night that he's had concerns about police oversight boards before.
"Whether it's putting together an oversight committee of the police department or just a committee that is going to make recommendations. If they don't understand what their role is, what they can and what they can't do, that they actually need to work with people, it's just a phenomenal waste of time for all involved," said Golombek.
There haven't always been problems, however.
Rivera took a moment during the Common Council meeting Tuesday to thank previous boards for working to make Buffalo better. The Police Advisory Board's suggestions have included codifying use of force policies and creating a new and independent oversight structure with the ability to review police-civilian incidents and review and weigh-in on police department policies.
As for what a new police advisory board could look like, Rivera said that a resolution would likely be presented within the next week and that ultimately new members selected.
"I don't think we're looking to limit the board, they had some good policies that did move forward and others that did not because of perhaps not enough support on the Common Council," Rivera said.
2 On Your Side reached out to the outgoing police advisory board for comment late Tuesday night and was told that co-chair Frederick Gazzoli would call Wednesday morning. UPDATE: That call was never received after several requests.