Jun. 20—Two new members have been appointed to fill vacancies on Boulder's Police Oversight Panel, one of which was created after another panelist resigned late last month.
Aimee Kane, equity officer for Boulder, said the new panelists, Arlette "AB" Barlow and Lizzie Friend, were appointed last week. Both came from a pool of alternate candidates that the POP Selection Committee had chosen to fill any unexpected vacancies.
When a vacancy occurs, Kane said, candidates in the pool draw numbers to determine who will serve next.
According to the city website, Friend was the director of performance management and strategy for the Denver Sheriff's Department until 2022, but now oversees data analytics and informatics, epidemiology and communicable disease intervention teams for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
Her website bio stated she is "passionate about using data to continuously improve government services, increase equity in our communities, and reduce harm." Friend lives in South Boulder and has two children.
Biographic information about Barlow was not immediately available on the website, and neither she nor Friend could immediately be reached for comment.
Before the new panelists were appointed, the panel had an existing vacancy left by former panelist Lisa Sweeney-Miran, whom City Council voted on May 4 to remove. The second vacancy arose when panelist Sarah Holt resigned on May 25.
Although Kane said Holt did not provide a specific reason for her resignation, it came just two days after Boulder resident Max Weller filed a Code of Conduct complaint against the POP for refusing to review new police complaints. The panel voted on May 10 to suspend most of its operations less than a week after Sweeney-Miran's removal.