Read Detailed Bios of the Recently Appointed Police Review Board Members

Read Detailed Bios of the Recently Appointed Police Review Board Members

The nine members of the new Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB) were appointed by the City Commissioners at their meeting on Jan. 27. The CPRB — which the commissioners voted to establish in response to nationwide protests against police brutality as well as three officer-involved shootings in Tallahassee — will be tasked with reviewing investigations of excessive or deadly force by police.

The City Commissioners individually appointed five members:

Rozetta Bobo, a 65-year-old, African American woman, was nominated by Commissioner Jack Porter. Bobo teamed up with Little Rock Police Department to create an alliance between the community and law enforcement after their first racial killing in Little Rock. She sits on boards such as the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, United Way of the Big Bend/Tallahassee Community Services and the National Restorative Justice Association. She is the mediator director for the Florida Supreme Court and also has seven years of experience as a criminal justice professor. Currently, she is the principal consultant at RB Consulting.

Niya Hubbard, an African American woman and graduate of both Florida A&M and Florida State University was nominated by Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox. Hubbard received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Florida State University, Master of Social Work from Florida A&M University and Master of Education from Jones University. She has been on the Child Advocacy Advisory Board as well as HIV/AIDS prevention boards. As of now, Hubbard is a case manager at DISC Village, a registered clinical social work intern at Florida Therapy Services and a business analyst for International Business Machines (IBM).

Rashad Mujahid, a 63-year-old, African American man, was nominated by Commissioner Curtis Richardson. Mujahid is a 1980 criminology major and sociology minor graduate from Florida State University. Although he is retired, he worked for the Social Security Administration for more than 40 years. He also worked as the Muslim Chaplain for several state prisons and is a former board member for Elder Care Services and Tallahassee Human Relation Council. Mujahid has previously co-owned multiple businesses with his wife, Sakinah Mujahid, including All Stars Day School and G.W.C Lee LLC, Real Estate Investment Properties. Mujahid was appointed by the City Commission as the first chairperson of the CPRB.

Luther Lee, a caucasian man and Tallahassee native, was nominated by Commissioner Jeremy Matlow. Lee has been involved with the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and Business Networking International. Lee obtained his A.A. in Political Science from Tallahassee Community College and has completed some schooling towards his B.A. from Florida A&M University. Currently, he is a Government Operations Consultant at the Florida Department of Revenue.

Tom Napier, a caucasian man and veteran of the United States Navy Reserve was nominated by Mayor John Dailey. Napier was a member and vice chairman of the State Retirement Commission and the former president of the Northeast Business Association (NEBA). He is currently the Community Problems Chair of Woodgate Homeowners Association and the vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Honor Flight Tallahassee.

The four members below were selected from the commissioners as a whole based on their nominations from community civic or social organizations.

Taylor Biro is a 34-year-old caucasian woman who is the director at the Florida Council against Sexual Violence. She received her degree from Florida State University and also attended graduate school. In the last 10 years, she has spent her time working in victim services. Before that, she ran an outreach program for runaway, homeless and at-risk kids. She is also currently serving on the Big Bend Continuum of Care board. She is also on the board for Capital Tea, a local LGBTQ+ non-profit.

Suzanne Van Wyk is a caucasian woman who received her B.S. in English and political science from Birmingham Southern College in 1988. She also attended graduate school at Florida State University, earning her J.D. and Master of Science in urban and regional planning in 1994. She has been very active in different community organizations, including the literacy volunteers of Leon County, where she served as a tutor, board member and board president. She has volunteered at the Capital City Women’s Club, and she volunteers regularly to deliver groceries to senior citizens through Good News Outreach.

Edward Gaines is a 52-year-old African American man and graduate of Davidson College with a degree in sociology. He also attended graduate school at Northeastern University, receiving his MBA. He is a volunteer/tutor at Rickards High school and other schools and churches. He is also a speaker at Rickards special events, Big Bend high school referee and he is on the Lincoln high school parent’s board. He is currently the head of sales/national sales director for Fennec Pharmaceuticals. He has also served as a banker/loan officer at First Florida Bank.

Barry Munroe is a 60-year-old African American man who graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in policy studies. He also graduated from the University of Miami School of Law. He has worked as an analyst/attorney for the Florida Legislature for about 25 years. Also as an attorney for the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee, he has analyzed several bills involving substantive criminal justice issues, medical malpractice and other legal issues. He has also been a part of the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Florida Senate committee on health care, Florida House of Representatives committee on health care and more.

8 Responses to "Read Detailed Bios of the Recently Appointed Police Review Board Members"

  1. What a mess. They already have big problems recruiting qualified candidates; this sure a heck is not going to help. Let’s ask ourselves: Are we better off with a bunch of out of shape officers who can’t run down a subject if their lives depend on it (or more correctly, citizens’ lives) when the bad guys get away? Or how about newly sworn officers who themselves have criminal records? yep, just keep vilifying cops & second guessing every move they make & see what kind of law enforcement you end up with. As Edward says::you can tell who runs this town”.

  2. TIME WILL TELL
    Not a single one of the members has ever experienced trying to apprehend a violent, armed suspect, or has been attacked by a drugged assailant, or has seen his or her friends injured while performing their duty, or who has developed a special survival instinct because of their work. None of the newly appointed members have any concept the violence, hatred, inhumanity, or gang warfare that exists in our community. Yet, they are now appointed to pass judgment on those who work and try to survive on those streets every day. They can discuss, get briefed, and ruminate on the actions an officer took on a split second decision. Would it make sense to appoint uneducated people to review the actions of teachers? Why don’t we appoint a panel of citizens to review the action of our firefighters, no experience required? Maybe a panel of Boy Scouts to review the city administration…or the actions of the Police Review Board?
    Will they perform a valuable service? Will they be racially biased? Are they just a political ploy by our city commissioners?
    TIME WILL TELL

  3. We are reviewing police conduct? Should we not be reviewing the other consistent part of this equation? Is this group looking for a scapegoat for someone’s irresponsible behavior?

  4. A politically motivated nonsensical solution to a manufactured illusion and support by zero facts.

    Yep… easy to figure out who runs this town.

  5. Anybody else find it strange that the very first remark on every candidate is their race? is that the most important attribute for each candidate? Political theater/Publicity stunt here. There really isnt much information to the reader that would lead us to understand how well these people will be able to review police actions/responses… if that was their tasks at all… this board is just a look at me stunt for the current politicians to get re-elected.

  6. Would one think that if the person who the police reported to in the city had actual – law enforcement experience – that there would be no need for a Review Board?

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