What those usually wind up doing is placing politics into the process. You invariably wind up with minority activists in leading roles. If not you wind up with Liberals in those roles. Lets face it, why is that board being pushed now? Do you think the minority community in Ferguson will be happy until they have an Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson approved community based review board?
You wind up with a person who is a proponent of gun control. You wind up with a person who has never had to put their life on the line. You wind up with a person that is anti-police and pro criminal element. You wind up with a person who will think Brown was innocent, and the police officer was the real criminal.
And then guess what you wind up with on the police force in short order. You wind up with lower standards, less background fails due to criminal record, and a substandard police force that is subject to being infiltrated by local gang elements.
Take a look at community review boards and how they work out in other cities.
Wait until it’s time to get a new police chief, and that review board won’t agree to anyone except a minority from a liberal run city far away.
Yep, those community based police review boards sound real good, until you actually have to observe what they get away with.
So your solution is to continue to let only the police investigate themselves?
What they will get, is a police force which is OWNED by the gangs, with a "citizen review board" that does what the gangs tell them to.