Milton sets up Police Accountability Board

Milton Town Council unanimously appointed a five-member Police Accountability Board Dec. 4, that will help advise the police department on issues regarding policy, training and community service.

Establishing a board was mandated through a 2023 act of the General Assembly, House Bill 206, which reformed an existing state ordinance related to the training of police officers. All police departments in the state were required to set up their own board, which must comprise at least one religious leader and members of the community who have been impacted – either directly or via family members – by the juvenile or adult criminal justice system. 

Civilian members serving on the board are required by law to complete 20 hours of community training with the police department, which could include ride-alongs or going to a citizens’ police academy. All meetings of the board must comply with the Freedom of Information Act. 

At council's Dec. 4 meeting, Mayor John Collier appointed the Rev. Todd Bean, Jackie Briscoe, Frank Cafone, John Hubbard and Betty McGrath to the board.

Collier said the town had the option of either partnering with other coastal towns on a board or creating its own.

“There is a group that is covering the other coastal towns, but their police deal with a whole other set of problems than ours do, so it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to embroil ourselves with that,” he said. 

Collier said the board is similar to the town’s parks and recreation or streets and sidewalks committees in that they do not have a set term, and members can come and go as they please. 

The board has not yet scheduled its first meeting.