Metro’s board has unanimously approved a new seven-member Transit Police oversight panel to review MTPD’s investigations.

Metro Transit Police requested the panel, according to board documents, which will include citizens and police officers tasked with reviewing MTPD’s investigations.

The panel is just one step Metro is taking to address racism within the transit system, which the transit agency pledged to do last month in response to large-scale protests nationwide against racism and police violence against Black people following George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s killings by police.

The Investigations Review Panel will have one “command-level” police member from Virginia, Maryland and D.C. and three citizen members from each jurisdiction, plus an at-large member appointed by the board. Citizens will be asked to fill out applications for the board.

Each quarter, the panel will conduct reviews of completed investigations and recommend changes to policy.

But some have expressed concerns about how independent the panel can be. According to the charter, the panel will meet in closed sessions that will not be open to the public. More still, their findings will be posted to Metro’s website after going through the legal department. Members can’t make public statements on behalf of the panel without permission from the Metro board.

D.C. ACLU Executive Director Monica Hopkins said, “What we have seen lacks detail and an understanding of how MTPD officers’ actions have eroded public trust. For far too long, Metro Transit Police Officers have used excessive force with impunity: tackling, harassing, tasering, and pepper-spraying riders, predominantly riders of color.”

She says the new panel “must be an independent body that has the power to investigate specific incidents of MTPD officer misconduct, and have the authority not just to issue reports, but to actually recommend and implement changes, including discipline.”

Metro officials say they hope the panel fosters trust between the Metro Transit police and the public.

Stephanie Gidigbi, the sole Black principal member of Metro’s board, who represents D.C., said the panel is a big step forward.

“We’re still trying to figure this out,” she said. “I’m hoping the riders and the public are willing to go with us on this journey … understanding we may not always get it right, but we’re doing our best along the way.”

Board Chair Paul Smedberg of Virginia said he hopes the panel “improves public engagement, transparency, and confidence in transit and community policing.”

The panel puts MTPD in line with D.C., Prince George’s County, Montgomery County and Fairfax County in having a police review board.

MTPD policies already comply with the “8 Can’t Wait” police reform movement, which calls for things like banning chokeholds, requiring de-escalation tactics, requiring a warning before shooting a firearm and a duty for officers to stop other officers from using excessive force.

MTPD responds to about 70,000 calls a year and uses force in about 2% of those calls, says MTPD Chief Ron Pavlik.

Pavlik asked for suggestions on training and policies that will “improve the integrity of investigations and the thoroughness and fairness of the process consistent with best practices in law enforcement.”

Pavlik said the 400-member department mostly reflects the community’s population: according to Pavlik, the department’s officers are 47% Black, 37% white, 10% Hispanic and 5% Asian. The department is continuing to work on diverse recruitment, he says.

Policing in the city— as in the rest of the country—has come under sharp scrutiny over the last month following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in police custody and the ensuing national protests.

MTPD has faced a bevy of accusations of biased policing, discrimination and excessive force over the last several years.

In February, WMATA pledged to investigate an incident in which a Metro police officer arrested and handcuffed a 13-year-old boy. That same month, a Washington Post report revealed that transit police had held a weekly contest to see who could make the highest number of arrests and issue the most citations. The transit police force is facing a lawsuit for repeatedly tasing a civilian last year after he confronted officers about their handling of another adolescent boy. The Department of Justice indicted a former MTPD officer last year for using unreasonable force on an individual, including striking them several times in the head with his baton and choking them.

The city also decriminalized fare evasion on the system following a report by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs that showed that 91% of riders stopped for fare evasion over a two-year period were Black. During debate over the measure, MTPD also was criticized for several fare evasion enforcement actions, including one instance when police slammed a young mother to the ground and chipped her teeth after she tried to ride a bus without paying her fare.

At a D.C. Council hearing earlier this year, Pavlik said he was considering hiring outside investigators to review internal affairs investigations into officers’ behavior, as the Washington Post reports.

The D.C. Council passed an emergency police reform bill two weeks ago, but it only applies to D.C. police — the legislative body does not have jurisdiction over the Metro police.

Transit Police say they already do more than 1,000 hours of basic training, including bias training. Recruit officers then attend a 10-week field training program where they take on real-world situations.

“Most recently, the MTPD leadership and officers completed specialized training at the National Museum of African American History,” the documents say.

DCist reporter Natalie Delgadillo contributed reporting.