Police Misconduct Remains Unchecked
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 3, 2000 -- Attempts to stop police brutality and misconduct through agencies like civilian review boards have failed, so state and federal government action will be necessary to stem the tide, a civil rights agency said today.
“The use of solicitors general, independent auditors andfederal oversight present viable alternatives to the failedattempts that have been used in the past to control police abuse,”the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said in a draft copy of itsreport obtained by The Associated Press.
The agency said the news was not all bad. “Law enforcementagencies have made great inroads in reducing crime and use indeadly force but such progress comes at a cost,” the report said.
“An agonizing reality exists alongside statistics showing adecrease in the use of deadly force by police officers andreduction in the number of incidents of crime in many communities:the persistence of police misconduct.”
For example, the fact that 11 people were shot down by policeofficers in New York City in 1999 compared with 41 in 1990, “doesnot remove the haunting specter of impending doom that visitsordinary, law-abiding people of color in street encounters withpolice officers in that city,” the report said.
Not Much Change
The report, “Police Practices and Civil Rights in America,” isa follow-up to the commission’s 1981 report, “Who is Guarding theGuardians?” But the agency, pointing to current problems in citieslike New York City and Los Angeles, says not much has changed.
“The problems reported 20 years ago persist with verylittle meaningful change over time,” the report said. “Instead,other problems like racial profiling developed. Despite repeatedrecommendations to make significant internal changes that wouldconsiderably curb police misconduct and improve police-communityrelations, few police departments seem to have ... resulting incontinued abuse of civilians at the hands of police officers.”
Communities have tried things like civilian review boards andlocal prosecution, but it hasn’t worked in all cities, thecommission said. The civilian review boards are chronicallyunderfunded and don’t usually have authority to act on their own,local prosecutors have to depend on the same police they areexpected to prosecute and the police themselves are usuallyuncooperative, the report said.
“Police misconduct remains largely unchecked because a majorityof officers and police officials view any form of outside‘interference’ as unnecessary and intrusive,” the report said.
The commission suggested Congress make it easier for people tosue abusive police officers and for the federal government to stepin and investigate police misconduct.
The federal government should also collect national statisticson racial profiling, the agency said. “More can be and must bedone to assure that there is no room for misconduct by the verypeople we have entrusted to protect us,” the report said.