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Investigating One Of W.Va.'s Only Citizen Review Panels For Local Police

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On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from residents of Bluefield, where one of the state’s only citizen review panels for local police exist. Also, in this show, we hear about the latest pushback to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Environmental groups have once again asked a federal court to halt construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Brittany Patterson reports.

In Bluefield, West Virginia, a panel to review police complaints was born out of a lawsuit against the city and its police in 1999. Robert “Robbie” Lemont Ellison, who was 20 years old at the time, sued after he was paralyzed in an encounter with police. Robbie said the officers beat him and broke his neck by slamming him against a car. Robbie died a couple years later, and his family is still grieving. On Monday, we heard from his family. Now, hear a bit more about how the citizen review board was created, what it looks like, and its nearly 20 years of noncompliance. Emily Allen reports.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

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