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| NEWS > 12 June 2007 |
Other related articles:
Police furious over £1bn merge
THE Government’s £1 billion plan to merge police forces has been scrapped, a Home Office minister admitted yesterday.
As chief constables and officials met to pick up the pieces, Tony McNulty, the Police Minister, said that cross-force co-operation, joint units and a federation of neighbouring forces might be the answer.
Chief constables are furious that the Government appeared to do nothing for months about dealing with potential cash problems, then dithered for two days before admitting grudgingly that the plan was dead.
The 43 forces in England and Wales ... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The News-Press, FL, USA
12 June 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Fort Myers Police Department,
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Civilian review board will hel
Working as a police officer is a hard and often dangerous job. They deserve our respect, support and gratitude. But like other professionals, police officers sometimes make mistakes, sometimes they engage in misconduct, and sometimes they are sent out on the streets to enforce bad policies.
Fort Myers would benefit from the creation of a sufficiently open structure to review complaints of police misconduct and review law enforcement policies. Public confidence cannot exist when reviews of law enforcement policies and allegations of police misconduct are conducted behind closed doors. Officers who are cleared of allegations of misconduct in a secretive process may never be fully exonerated in the eyes of the public, though they may deserve to be. Simply put, the police shouldn't "police themselves."
From Miami to Portland, Ore., hundreds of cities have implemented independent citizen review boards to investigate citizen complaints of police misconduct and to review police department policies and procedures. The investigations and review of policies and procedures result in recommendations to law enforcement officials, mayors and city managers.
These civilian oversight boards increase the confidence of community members that complaints of police misconduct will be handled thoroughly, independently and fairly. Increasing confidence in the fairness of the process also improves police-community relations.
NO SILVER BULLET
Citizen oversight panels do not reflect a lack of confidence in law enforcement management, nor are they an expression of hostility to police as some (including a recent guest opinion by Thomas C. Chase, "Police oversight panel a bad idea, inviting lawsuits," May 21, 2007) would have you believe.
In 2001, Miami residents overwhelmingly amended the City Charter to create an independent civilian investigative panel with the authority to issue subpoenas. The result was an ordinance creating the Civilian Investigative Panel. The ordinance provided the CIP with the power to independently investigate and conduct inquiries and public hearings regarding allegations of police misconduct; to subpoena witnesses and documents under limited circumstances; and make recommendations to the police chief concerning the policies and procedures of the Police Department and the disposition of alleged incidents of police misconduct. These recommendations must be considered by the police chief in determining appropriate disciplinary action.
Citizen review boards are no silver bullet. They work only if they receive cooperation from police and city administrators and are provided the resources and authority to accomplish their mission - and only if they are staffed by capable and unbiased citizens who undergo required training.
Citizen review boards help the community gather information about the concerns of the community including individual incidents, problem officers, and departmental policies that need to be reviewed and possibly revised.
LESSEN TENSIONS
At least 10 Florida communities have some form of civilian police review board, including Naples, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Stuart, Orlando and St. Petersburg, and the counties of Orange, Miami-Dade and Seminole.
The focus of discussions in Fort Myers has been on the role of a Citizen's Police Review Board to investigate and make recommendations regarding individual allegations of police misconduct and complaints regarding the use of excessive force. But the Board's policy review function will be more effective in improving policing than investigating individual complaints. Police departments benefit by civilian input, understanding and support for policies involving the use of force — both lethal as well as the use of chemical agents and so-called less-than-lethal weapons such as Tasers — as well as policies dealing with high-speed pursuits, use of canines, and protocols for the arrest of the mentally ill.
There is a cost for a Civilian Oversight Board, but it is worth it to address the tensions in our community and rebuild police-community relations and confidence in the Fort Myers Police Department .
The residents of Fort Myers can continue to use tax dollars to pay lawyers to defend the city in lawsuits against the police, high insurance premiums and compensation and damages to the victims of police misconduct, and we can continue to endure investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Or, we can design a structure that just might save money by improving policing, lessening tensions and increasing respect and support for our police.
We take steps to protect the public's health, in part to prevent the need for more costly care later on.
Similar preventive strategies could be taken with regard to the Fort Myers Police Department.
—Howard L. Simon is executive director of the ACLU of Florida; visit www.aclufl.org.
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