Last week, seven people were introduced as the city's new Community Police Hearing Board. They will investigate every complaint against the Springfield Police Department.

Reverend Talbert Swan says it sounds all too familiar with the board they've been tapped to replace.

"The board proposed by the executive order is just a remixed version of the current board," Swan says.

Many in the community want the board to have the power to discipline.

Right now, their recommendations are in Fitchet's hands, and he's all but promised to side with them every time. But that's not enough for City Councilor Jimmy Ferrera.

"It's only authority is to make recommendations and to gather information and present it to the police commissioner. That's nothing more than a citizen off the street gathering information and presenting it to the police commissioner," Ferrera says.

He too is looking for a board with power to discipline, but state and city charters will need to be amended. And the commissioner's power is all but gone.

"It's like saying on the one hand, 'commissioner, we support you, but we're going to abolish your position,'" says City Attorney Ed Pikula.

Pikula says let the commissioner do his job.

"You either trust the commissioner and trust his actions or you don't. You trust the people put on that board or you don't," he says.