The city of Lawrence is taking a step in the right direction in pursuing new processes for handling complaints about the Lawrence Police Department, but the city should make more information about the process available to the public.

On Tuesday, the City Commission demonstrated support for changing the Citizen Advisory Board for Fair and Impartial Policing to the Community Police Review Board and giving the board broader discretion to review cases. The board would be allowed to review racial profiling investigations if requested by the person making the complaint. If the board disagreed with the police department’s findings, it could forward an alternative finding to the city manager’s office for review. Currently the board receives only summaries from the police department at the end of the investigation.

On Tuesday, the city commission asked for public input on the proposal.

The new policy does provide greater checks and balances on city law enforcement. That’s key considering that the police department is responsible for investigating itself in most complaints. The new policy gives citizens who feel they were treated unfairly by police the opportunity to get a second opinion of sorts from what is, theoretically, an unbiased neutral party.

The Community Police Review Board’s recommendation on each case goes to City Manager Tom Markus, who makes the ultimate decision as to whether an employee should be disciplined or terminated because of a complaint.

It’s encouraging that the NAACP and ACLU support the changes.

But the proposal isn’t without shortcomings, specifically the lack of transparency. The complaints, review and deliberations involving the Community Police Review Board would not be open to the public. City attorneys argued confidentiality is required by law and by the contract between the city and the department’s employees.

“Complaints can be made and could be found to not be sustained, and we would not want to ruin the reputation of an officer,” said city attorney Toni Wheeler.

Wheeler’s perspective is a bit of a stretch. The public understands that everyone – especially law enforcement officers – are entitled to the presumption of innocence..

Making a summary of all Community Police Review Board reviews — including possibly the names of the individuals and officers involved — is something the City Commission should consider. Otherwise, the new Community Police Review Board is the right move for the city.