WESTPORT — Civilians, the Representative Town Meeting wants you.

Local registered voters are eligible to apply for appointment to two open seats on the town’s Civilian Review Panel.

The RTM’s Public Protection Committee this week initiated the process of seeking two potential appointees for the five-person panel, which was established in 2020.

Since then, however, its two “civilian” seats have remained open. Three other seats, under guidelines set by then-First Selectman Jim Marpe, are assigned to the two other members of the Board of Selectmen and a member of TEAM Westport appointed by the first selectman. Under that scenario, the panel’s current members are Harold Bailey, chairman of TEAM, and Selectwomen Andrea Moore and Candice Savin.

The Public Protection Committee began looking to fill the two seats after agreeing with First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker’s request last week to take over the process to review candidates and make the appointments.

The committee chose to follow Tooker’s request while rejecting an alternate plan to establish a permanent, independent Civilian Police Review Board by ordinance.

The ordinance, petitioned onto the RTM’s January agenda by 25 local voters, failed to win the committee’s support last week by a 7-1 vote. It faces further review at the Jan. 25 meeting of the RTM’s Ordinance Committee.

The ordinance is a revised version of a similar proposal to establish a Civilian Police Review Board, which was overwhelmingly turned down by the full RTM last October.

The two candidates initially appointed to the open seats on the Civilian Review Panel will serve for two years, with subsequent terms lasting four years. There is no limit on the number of terms that RTM-appointed members can serve. 

No more than a bare majority of the Civilian Review Panel may be members of the same political party, according to the RTM committee.

Qualifications for CRP membership; Feb. 7 application deadline

In addition to being a registered Westport voter, applicants for seats on the panel cannot be an employee of the town’s Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Service departments, or related to an employee of those departments..

People interested in applying should email a resume and letter of interest to Town Clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton at  jdunkerton@westportct.gov, or mail to: Westport Town Clerk, 110 Myrtle Ave., Room 105, Westport, CT 06880.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, Feb. 7.

The applicant’s letter should describe how his or her experience would be relevant to serving on the panel. Screened candidates will be provided with more detailed information about the CRP’s role and then be interviewed, the RTM committee.said.

Responsibilities for Civilian Review Panel

In reviewing issues concerning the local Police, Fire and EMS departments, responsibilities for panel members will include: 

• Hiring Oversight: Participate in the interview process of new hires and lateral transfer applicants, offering feedback on the selection of job candidates.

• Complaint Review: Assess and provide feedback on civilian complaints regarding police, fire and EMS personnel.

• Transparency and Accountability: Advise the departments on policies and procedures designed to improve transparency and accountability.

• Meetings: Hold special meetings as needed.

• Training: Receive training from the Police, Fire and EMS departments to understand current policies, procedures, general orders, internal affairs and legal issues.

• Reporting from Police, Fire and EMS departments: The affected departments will provide an annual report to the town’s first selectman and the CRP regarding all disciplinary complaints and their status and resolution.