By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — LaKenya Middlebrook was chosen by Mayor Indya Kincannon as the new Executive Director of the Police Advisory and Review Committee for Knoxville. The purpose of PARC is to strengthen the relationships between the members of the police department and the citizens they serve through an independent review of police actions. PARC, created in 1998, reviews incidents following the conclusion of investigations by the internal affairs department. Citizens then can register formal or anonymous complaints through PARCs executive director.
Middlebrook is an attorney and community leader in Knoxville and the daughter of civil rights icon Rev. Harold Middlebrook.
“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve as Executive Director of the Knoxville Police Advisory & Review Committee,” Middlebrook said. “For more than two decades, PARC has worked to demand accountability, increase transparency, and build improved relationships between the Knoxville Police Department and our communities. Those charged with the responsibility to protect and serve can only be effective in doing so if our communities trust that protection and service will be administered fairly, justly and equitably.
“I look forward to working in partnership with residents, community groups, advocates, PARC members, Mayor Kincannon, City Council and the Knoxville Police Department to ensure that individuals continue to have a voice in examining and shaping the policies and practices of the Police Department and that policing in Knoxville becomes a model for effective community-centered policing.”
