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Review board sides with officers
Posted: 04.13.2011 at 10:13 PM
Meghan Lane

Meghan is a Live at Sunrise anchor.

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COLUMBIA, MO. -- The Columbia Police Review Board Wednesday night decided what to do about eight citizen complaints against the department stemming from one incident in November.

Police said a man was trespassing at a Starbucks on Ninth Street.

Officers confronted him at a nearby sandwich shop and tasered him twice.

The suspect went to the hospital with injuries.

Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton said the complaints are unfounded.

Dozens of people were at city hall in Columbia to find out what the police review board would decide.

“I’ve read the police report and I know what it says and it seems to me, this is my opinion at this point, that they followed the regulations,” one police board member said.  “Having heard nothing else against that, I don't see that we can do much more.  In terms of ruling against the officers, I actually don't see any reason to do that."

Neither of the two witnesses from the night in question came to the meeting.

Their absence led the board to stick with what the police report said from the night the tasers were used.

The board said the officers were doing their jobs.

The residents who made the complaint refer to themselves as the Columbia Eight and said they weren't happy with the decision.

"We are disappointed that the board apparently doesn't want to hear from the public on the issues where we believe that there has been police misconduct,” complaintant David Finke said.  “Apparently one has to be directly the victim of something that is objectionable from the police in order for this board to listen to them."

The group said they don't feel like they were given the opportunity to state their case.

"We feel that the justifiable questions that we as members of the public raised have not been answered," Finke said.

The Columbia Eight said they just want to be heard and feel they lack support. 

Statistics from the police department show officers deployed their tasers 15 times last year.

In last November’s elections voters gave a strong "no" to a proposal banning tasers.

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