A draft report by the Fort Worth Task Force on Race and Culture paints a picture of a city largely divided by race and income and recommends a number of actions, including more diversity in the police department and a Citizens Police Review Board to investigate complaints against officers.
An early copy of the report was obtained by NBC DFW -- click here to read it.
The task force was formed at the suggestion of Mayor Betsy Price and other city leaders in the wake of protests following the controversial and widely-publicized arrest of Jacqueline Craig in December 2016.
The citizens' review board would be modeled after a similar commission in Dallas.
The department's Internal Affairs office would still investigate complaints and officer-involved shootings, but anyone not happy with the outcome could appeal to the independent commission after the investigation and any criminal case is completed.
The commission would have 11 members who would serve for two-year terms. The mayor and each council member would appoint someone, and two would be chosen at-large by the mayor and council.
The board would be able to subpoena citizens but not police officers. It would not be able to overturn department decisions or award monetary damages but could request that a decision be re-examined or further investigated.
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The recommendations come from the task force's Committee on Criminal Justice, headed by assistant Tarrant County District Attorney Ty Stimpson.
The committee also called for the police department to diversify, noting a lack of black officers in key positions.
Out of 241 corporals and detectives, only 16 -- or 7 percent -- are black. Not a single black person serves in a number of specialized units, including SWAT, K-9, Criminal Intelligence, Homicide, Major Case, and Robbery. Only one black person serves on the Special Response Team, which is made up of 44 officers, the report said.
The police department is aware of the report but is awaiting more details before commenting, said Sgt. Chris Britt.
The task force's criminal justice committee is just one focus of the panel. Other committees have focused on areas like education, health, and transportation.
Minority neighborhoods in Fort Worth have a "disproportionate share of poor-condition streets, poor-condition and missing sidewalks and poor-condition street lights," the report said.
Predominately minority neighborhoods have 58 percent of street lane miles but 77 percent of streets in poor condition, the report said. Minority neighborhoods have half the sidewalks in Fort Worth, but 81 percent of the sidewalks in poor condition.
The report recommends focusing all city incentives to provide housing for people at 30 percent of the area median income.
"This policy would promote fair housing by increasing housing opportunities for African-Americans and the Hispanic community that are disproportinionaetely low-income," the report said.
Hispanics make up 58 percent of the households in housing considered substandard or overcrowded, the task force found.
The panel also recommended an independent citizen redistricting commission to help the city address disparities when the council size is increased from nine to 11 following the 2020 census.
The report also said racial segregation has increased since 2010.
The task force is set to vote on the draft report next month will hold a series of six public meetings to hear comments on the findings and finalize its report in November.
It is expected to be presented to the City Council in December.
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