Rapinoe among athletes touting CBD's benefits for pain

125801412_web1_TTL072016Prison1

Five Luzerne County Correctional Facility workers test positive for coronavirus

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Four months after he announced the creation of a citizens&rsquo; advisory committee to oversee the police department Mayor George Brown Thursday introduced his seven appointees.
				The five men and two women applied for and interviewed to serve on the panel without pay to review policy, investigate complaints and recommend courses of action for the mayor.
				&ldquo;Everyone here volunteered for this position. I&rsquo;m very happy that these people want to give up their time, their energy. They see a value,&rdquo; Brown said during a press conference at City Hall.
				Brown noted he wanted the committee to reflect the diverse makeup of city residents and introduced:
				&#8226; Darlene Duggins, a social service specialist at River Street Manor.
				&#8226; Francisco Gonzalez, owner of Franchesca General Services on Hazle Street.
				&#8226; Andrew Jerome, lead pastor at Parsons Primitive Methodist Church.
				&#8226; Faith Lane, owner of Faith&rsquo;s Homemade Sweet Potato Pies, hospice and in-home care worker and youth advocate.
				&#8226; William Lewis III, president and owner of WV Estates.
				&#8226; Rahman Marshall, an area manager at Amazon.
				&#8226; Edward &ldquo;Ned&rdquo; McGinley, former head wrestling coach and admissions counselor at King&rsquo;s College.
				Committee members Jerome and Marshall were eager to get to work.
				&ldquo;We all met last week and got to meet each other and we just want to do the best for the city of Wilkes-Barre. We think it&rsquo;s a great city. Does it need to be improved? I&rsquo;m sure, everything does,&rdquo; Jerome said. &ldquo;But we want to be a part of a positive process, a proactive process rather than a reactive process.&rdquo;
				Marshall was in sync with Jerome on the role of the committee.
				&ldquo;My reason for joining the committee is just to ensure that policing is equitable for all members of the community. And while I&rsquo;m very excited that we don&rsquo;t currently have an issue like we see what&rsquo;s going on in other cities around this nation, my goal is to be proactive with this committee,&rdquo; Marshall said.
				Brown announced the creation of the committee in June in advance of the councilwoman Beth Gilbert McBride proposing legislation to create a Citizen Police Review Board with subpoena powers to investigate police misconduct and pass along its recommendation to the mayor.
				At the time protests by Black Lives Matter were gaining momentum after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in the custody of Minneapolis police.
				The union representing city police officers, the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association, expressed concerns with the proposed oversight of the Review Board. But there was some public support a for it and it had the backing of the NAACP Wilkes-Barre Branch #2306.
				In July, by a 3-2 vote council opposed McBride&rsquo;s ordinance, preventing it from proceeding to a second and final reading.
				Brown did not need council&rsquo;s approval to create the committee and sought applicants for it over the summer.
				The committee&rsquo;s first order of business will be to schedule its first meeting, fill chair and vice chair seats, set meeting dates and undergo training, Brown said. The bimonthly meeting schedule listed in the <a href="https://www.wilkes-barre.city/sites/g/files/vyhlif4086/f/uploads/police_advisory_committee_guidelines.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">committee guidelines</a> could be amended to meeting monthly, Brown said.
				The public meetings will be advertised on the city&rsquo;s website, <a href="https://www.wilkes-barre.city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wilkes-barre.city</a>, and on its Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WilkesBarreCity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.facebook.com/WilkesBarreCity/</a>. A complaint form also will be available online.
				The mayor added his role and that of Police Chief Joseph Coffay will be as advisers who act on the committee&rsquo;s recommendations.
				&ldquo;So they&rsquo;re going to have to vote on what to do. I will not have a vote,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Everything that&rsquo;s determined by this board is determined by these seven people.&rdquo;

Wilkes-Barre Police Advisory Committee members introduced