Big Changes Officially Approved With BART Police

 A BART police oversight bill signed into law on Thursday will take  effect on Jan 1, 2011, exactly two years after a BART police officer shot and  killed an unarmed passenger on the Fruitvale station platform in Oakland,  BART officials announced today.

Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of  involuntary manslaughter for shooting and killing 22-year-old Oscar Grant III  on Jan. 1, 2009. Mehserle is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5.    

"Today really is a historic day for BART," BART Board President  James Fang said at a news conference held in Oakland this morning to discuss  the signing of the bill.
     
Existing law allows the board to contract with outside auditing  entities, but the new law enables the board to also establish two BART police  oversight entities: an independent police auditor and a citizen review board.
      
Lynette Sweet, a member of the BART board of directors, explained  that these entities will work together to improve transparency following  certain incidents, such as the use of force by an officer or a discriminatory  charge.
     
"This is the people's bill," Sweet said, adding that the bill is  in part the result of discussions in the 20 community meetings that followed  the fatal shooting of Grant.
     
Assemblyman Sandri Swanson, D-Alameda, who introduced the bill,  said that although everyone is pleased about the bill's passage, "this is not  a time to celebrate" given the tragic circumstance of Grant's death.
   
 Sweet said that if the auditor and citizen review board had  existed on the day Grant was killed, events directly following the shooting  would have transpired differently.
   
 The auditor would have been called to the scene right away, and  then made recommendations to the citizen review board, who then would have  been able to make recommendations to the BART police chief, Sweet said.
   
 The citizen review board will consist of 11 people, nine chosen  individually by BART board members, one chosen by the board together, and  another chosen by BART police.
     
Fang said that although the changes may not be able to completely  prevent another incident from occurring, it will certainly improve oversight  and accountability.

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