Police Oversight Panel

Legal basis

• BRC 2-11 (Police Oversight) (2023-10-19) · governs · Police Oversight source
• Ordinance No. 8609 (2023) (2023-10-19) · governs source
• Ordinance No. 8361 (2019) (2019-10-29) · creates source source
• Ordinance No. 8430 (2020) (2020-11-10) · amends source source
• Ordinance No. 8543 (2022) (2022-08-04) · amends source source
• Ordinance No. 8570 (2023) (2023-02-02) · amends source source
• Police Oversight Panel Bylaws (adopted September 2024; updated May 2026) (2024-09-09) · governs source source

Appointed by

City Manager. The city manager appoints the eleven members and up to five alternates, on the recommendation of an advisory (selection) committee the city manager forms; the city manager may remove members. source source as of 2026-10-29

another source differs

Under the former BRC 2-11 (Ord. 8361 (2019) as amended by Ord. 8430 (2020)), a selection committee nominated members and council approved or rejected them by majority vote on its consent agenda. source source source

Ordinance 8609 (adopted October 19, 2023) repealed the former chapter and gave appointment to the city manager.

How

Annual recruitment run by the Office of the Independent Police Monitor: applications open in December-January; the city manager forms a community advisory committee (which must include current and former panel members and the monitor, and strives to include people most affected by policing) that reviews applications and interviews candidates; the city manager then selects and appoints. Sitting members whose terms end must reapply. New members start in March and must finish training before voting. · Applications December 8 - January 25; advisory committee chosen January 12; interviews February 21; City Manager selects March 6 (2026 cycle); terms begin in March. · none (city manager appointment; council approval ended with Ord. 8609 in 2023) source source source source source as of 2026-01-12

Seats

11 source as of 2023-10-19

another source differs

9 source

The code as amended by Ord. 8430 (2020) had nine members, two of them students, plus three alternates; Ord. 8543 (August 4, 2022) raised this to eleven (the redline reads 'nineeleven'), and Ord. 8609 (2023) kept eleven.

Seat types

• regular member (strong ties to Boulder; may not be a current law-enforcement employee, a current or former Boulder Police employee, related to a police employee, or a city employee or a city employee's family) ×9 qualified
• student enrolled as an undergraduate in an institution of higher education in Boulder ×1 qualified
• student enrolled in an institution of higher education (may be a Boulder resident) ×1 qualified
• eligible alternate (pool to fill vacancies) ×5 alternate

source source source source

Term

3 years (five regular seats) or 2 years (four regular seats); student members 1 year source as of 2023-10-19

another source differs

3 years after the initial staggered terms; students 1 year source

Former code, replaced by Ord. 8609 (2023).

Term limit

two consecutive terms, at most four years (a 3-year member may be reappointed for one more year; a 2-year member for one more 2-year term); students two consecutive one-year terms source source as of 2023-10-19

Staggering

Regular members draw numbers on appointment to decide who serves two years and who serves three (four two-year and five three-year seats), so terms end in different years; students turn over yearly. source as of 2023-10-19

Powers

advisory. Decides: Which completed internal-affairs (professional standards) investigations to review; its own co-chairs, subcommittees, leaves of absence and public statements about its role. It has full access to complaint files and may review critical incidents and serious-injury cases.. To council: Recommendations only: disposition and discipline recommendations go to the chief of police before the chief decides (the panel may file a written objection or ask for an after-action meeting); policy and training recommendations go to the chief, the city manager and City Council; it may publish an annual report to the public, city manager, council and chief. source source source as of 2023-10-19

Council liaison

not applicable: City Council assigns no council liaison to this panel: council's approved 2026 committee and board assignments (Jan 22, 2026, Attachment A) name no council liaison to any city board or commission, the same finding as for the Planning Board, and the panel's only liaison named in BRC 2-11-17(b) is the independent police monitor. source source

Staff liaison

Office of the Independent Police Monitor (City Manager's Office), with the City Attorney's Office as counsel · Sherry Daun, Selena Duenas, Chris Reynolds source source as of 2026-09-14

Relations

• City Manager appoints Police Oversight Panel source
• Police Oversight Panel appoints Police Oversight Panel Selection Committee · former code (2020-2023): the Panel chose the two nonprofits for later selection committees source
• Office of Police Monitor liaison Police Oversight Panel · The monitor is liaison, subject-matter expert and administrative support; the two are independent of one another. source
• Police Oversight Panel member of Police Oversight Panel Selection Committee · two Panel members sat on later selection committees (former code); current and former Panel members take part in selection under BRC 2-11-10(c)(3) source source
• Police Oversight Panel: Community Engagement & Communications Committee recommends to Police Oversight Panel · Reports and proposes events to the full panel. source
• Police Oversight Panel recommends to City Council source
• Police Oversight Panel recommends to Chief of Police · Disposition, discipline and policy recommendations on reviewed cases. source
• Police Oversight Panel recommends to City Manager source
• City Attorney's Office staffs Police Oversight Panel · counsel; a CAO attorney is listed among the city staff at panel meetings source
• Office of the Independent Police Monitor staffs Police Oversight Panel · liaison and administrative support source source
• Police Oversight Panel: Community Engagement & Communications Committee subcommittee of Police Oversight Panel source
• Police Oversight Task Force succeeded by Police Oversight Panel · Its recommendations created the Police Oversight Panel (Ord. 8361, 2019; first panel met February 11, 2021); task force members continued as the 2020 Implementation Team. source source

History

• 2019-10-29 · created · Council adopted Ordinance 8361, enacting BRC Title 2, Chapter 11 'Police Oversight' on the Police Oversight Task Force's recommendations: a police monitor and a community oversight panel. source source
• 2021-02-11 · transitioned · After council approved the selection committee's first nine members and three alternates on its February 2, 2021 consent agenda, the panel held its first meeting. source source
• 2022-08-04 · transitioned · Ordinance 8543 enlarged the panel from nine to eleven members. source
• 2023-10-19 · transitioned · Ordinance 8609 repealed and re-enacted BRC 2-11: appointment moved from council (approving a selection committee's nominees) to the city manager (advised by an advisory committee); terms became two or three years with a four-year cap. source source