MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The proposed citywide camping ban has the attention of the Morgantown Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board which will decide how it wants to address the issue in the coming weeks. The board agreed to form a three-member panel to examine the issue and bring information back for consideration at the Sept. 12 meeting.
The controversial proposal was on Thursday’s meeting agenda under the heading “city proposal to criminalize sleeping outdoors.” Board members first discussed composing a statement on the board’s official position on the ordinance. However, Robert Cohen suggested examining homelessness-related crime statistics before taking a stance.
“The police chief made a statement at the July 2 city council meeting indicating that there has not been any appreciable increase in crime levels,” Cohen said.
Cohen also noted part of the board’s mission is to review crime statistics and report their findings to the public.
The board appointed Cohen, along with members Bryan Church and Catherine Fonseca to review available data and recommend if and how the board should participate in the discussion.
“I just don’t want to see it delayed past our next meeting because this is a very timely issue,” said board member Megan Gandy.
The proposed camping ban drew a large crowd to a contentious City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on July 31. Council voted 4-3 to advance the proposal to an unknown future meeting for first reading.