City Council Member Tim Burgess is finally rolling out his new Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB). OPARB—which reviews and reports on investigations by the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), which investigates claims of misconduct against the Seattle Police Department—has expanded from three to seven members, and has been asked to perform more community outreach and provide more input on officer accountability.

In the last year, OPARB’s been incredibly controversial. In June 2007, the board accused Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske of interfering in an investigation of two officers under investigation for beating and planting drugs on a wheelchair-bound man in January 2007. In January 2007, the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild filed an unfair labor practice claim against the city, removing OPARB’s ability to review unredacted police files. In March, outgoing OPARB member Sheley Secrest left the board in protest after Council Member Burgess told her she’d have to reinterview for her job.

While it’s unfortunate that none of the current OPARB members will continue on the board—OPARB chair Peter Holmes has completed both of his terms and Brad Moericke is resigning to focus on his work as an attorney—the new board appears to be an interesting mix of law enforcement vets, legal watchdogs and community activists.

Here’s the list:

Tina Bueche, a restauranteur, longtime neighborhood activist in Pioneer Square—check out this 2002 interview where she knocks Good Neighbor Agreements AND the Teen Dance Ordinance—and chair of the Seattle Neighborhood Group board. Bueche was also on the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct Advisory Council

David Wilma, a law enforcement veteral, who’s worked as investigator for the EPA, a UW campus police officer and spent 30 years as a DEA agent. He is also a frequent contributor to Historylink.org (!).

Attorney George Davenport, who did legal work as a Navy JAG and spent time in the Tacoma City Prosecutor’s office. He’s now a criminal defense attorney and the COO of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill.

Sharon Dear, an insurance attorney, who previously worked at the King County Prosecutor’s office. While working for the county, Dear took part in an inquest into the death of Shawn Maxwell, who was shot and killed by Seattle Police in 2002 after officers claimed he threatened them with a sword.

Steven Freng, a psychologist and manager of a federal drug treatment program. Freng was formerly an administrator at the King County Detoxification Center and previously on the board of the Downtown Emergency Services Center.

Martha Norberg, works for a forensic accounting firm, and previously spent 12 years as a fraud investigator for the US Treasury Department. Norberg was also a criminal investigation trainer for the Department of Justice in Central and South America and in 1999, worked for a citizen police panel in Seattle. While working for the panel, Norberg blew the whistle on SPD after confidential files on police oversight disappeared from the department while under review.

Patrick Sainsbury, OPARB’s new chair, spent 34 years at the King County Prosecutor’s Office as the head of the fraud division. There, Sainsbury oversaw corruption cases, some of which were against police officers accused of misconduct.

While the shakeup and expansion of the board could be great for police oversight, there’s still great potential for OPARB to be handicapped by legal threats and political cowardice. A final report by the outgoing board members is currently in limbo because the city has refused to provide legal protection to board members if they were to be sued by the police guild over the report. Council Member Burgess claims the new board will be adequately protected, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The new board will hold their first meeting in September.