(BLUEFIELD, W. Va.) -- City Council has appointed a citizen review panel to investigate allegations of misconduct by police officers.
The panel’s creation on Tuesday was part of a $1 million settlement of a federal lawsuit filed against the city of Bluefield by Robert Ellison. Ellison, who is black, was paralyzed in a scuffle with two white police officers outside a Mercer County nightclub in 1998.
Bluefield’s 28-man force currently employs three black officers.
Ellison, 22, is living at a nursing home in Tazewell, Va.
(iSyndicate; The Charleston Gazette; Nov. 16, 2000). Terms and Conditions: Copyright(c) 2000 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights Reserved.