Menino taps 3 civilians for criticized police review board

The appointees are Boston employment litigation attorney Damon Hart; former Brookline town administrator Richard Kelliher; and Natashia Tidwell, who has served as a Cambridge police officer and a federal prosecutor. None of them could be reached for comment yesterday.

The Globe reported last month that the panel, which reviews appeals from citizens whose allegations of police misconduct have been dismissed by the police Internal Affairs Unit, had held no meetings since November, and members’ terms had been expired for at least a year.

Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and other groups sent a letter to Menino in June asserting that the panel “exists only on paper.’’

In 2009, Harvard University researchers found that only seven of the 116 people whose complaints were dismissed by police had sought appeals by September 2008. The researchers interviewed 27 people who did not appeal and found that only one knew the review board existed.

Last year, the panel reviewed 13 new cases, according to its annual report posted on the city’s website. Ten reviews came after citizens made direct appeals, and three were launched during a random audit of cases, the report states.

Of the 13 cases reviewed, the panel deemed 10 of the police investigations to be “fair and thorough,’’ according to the report.

Since the panel’s inception, 80 percent of police investigations under review have been deemed fair and thorough, according to the report. Of the remaining 20 percent, three-quarters of them are pending further review and reinvestigation, and the others have been closed, the report states.

Menino’s office said yesterday that the panel has reviewed 53 cases since 2007.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday in a statement that the department looks forward to working with the new panelists, who are scheduled to hold their first meeting early next month. “We deeply value their input,’’ Davis said.

Maria Cramer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.