BUFFALO, N.Y (WKBW) — Erika Shields was announced as Buffalo's new police commissioner earlier this month, but she can only assume the role if the Buffalo Common Council votes to appoint her. The council's civil service committee peppered her with questions on Tuesday.
At times, the meeting was akin to a job interview as councilmembers probed Shields' past experience as police chief in both Atlanta and Louisville.
But Masten District representative Zeneta Everhart alleged she received phone calls asking her to vote for Shields in return for "political favor."
"I think it is absolutely disgusting, absolutely horrifying that people would have the absolute audacity to call my phone and threaten me," Everhart said. "So let me be very, very, very clear. I don't need political favor."
Everhart did not say who allegedly threatened her. The Ryan administration declined to comment for that reason.
The councilmember went on to say she would not support the appointment of Shields when the issue is voted on next week, after researching her past.
"What I heard did not sit right with me," Everhart said.
WATCH: Buffalo Common Council questions police commissioner pick ahead of confirmation vote
That past includes Shields stepping down from her post as chief of police in Atlanta after a police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, who was Black, in June 2020, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests. Shields shed light on her resignation in Tuesday's meeting.
"It was such a racially contentious time," Shields said. "It just felt for the interests of the city and the police department that I had given my adult life to, that I step down."
In terms of the officer's actions, Shields said she felt it was a training issue and the outcome would have been "markedly different" had the officers felt more confident taking Brooks into custody.
University District representative Rasheed Wyatt said he, too, researched Shields, including calling up a family member in Atlanta who reported she was "fair" in her former role.
"I am impressed by you," he told Shields.
Wyatt, who was once president of the Newport News NAACP in Virginia, said he felt Shields was a "scapegoat" in Atlanta.
"If there was a pattern of something you had been doing, the NAACP would have been all over you, but I didn't see that," Wyatt said. "I did see some things later what they said, but not during your tenure. If there had been problems all along then I'd be questioning you right now."
After the meeting, I asked Shields how she plans to ensure the Buffalo Police Department earns the trust of residents with her at the helm.
"Trust is built by when you and I are interacting with one another, and we develop a mutual respect, and we see the other person is sincere in their word," Shields said. "That's all that it is, it's getting out of the patrol car and meeting people where they're at."
The council will vote on the appointment next Tuesday.
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