The Role of Citizen Oversight in Policing - Coursework Example

Essay Topic: The Role of Citizen Oversight in Policing Essay Topic: The Role of Citizen Oversight in Policing Introduction Citizen’soversight on the practices carried out by the police has been a controversial issue for a very long time in law enforcement. Citizen oversight on matters concerning the operations of the police can be viewed as being a procedure through which the conduct of law enforcement is reviewed at a specified time by independent persons who do not form part of sworn officers. The recent years have been marked with increased jurisdiction on law enforcement involving review systems of citizens and incidents that are highly publicized of alleged police misbehavior. The fallout of the police has resulted in the citizen oversight issue to be at the center of the key matters to be dealt with by the United States government. There have been heated debates on the citizens’ involvement on police practices as most activists claim that the citizens do not have the intimate knowledge of the procedures of law enforcement as well as the legal limitations associated with the enforcement. This position taken by the citizens has led to many law enforcers to argue that the oversight process can only muddle the process of reviewing police practices. It is well accepted that as law enforcement professionals, the administrators have to be held accountable for discipline and training so as to minimize misconduct. The same administrators have to be kept far beyond the political fray of the country in an effort to make sure they are free from the political influence vagaries. It is argued that there are several valid avenues of redressing or reviewing the above. They include; powers of legislative investigation, civil litigation and mass media thus there is no need for citizen oversight (Walker, 2000). In addition, the current fiscal conservation conditions make the citizen review process to appear as being an extralegal supplement that is expensive to the already existing internal investigations system. The public, on the other hand, insist that the democratic systems of balances and checks are just a means of allowing the administrators to judge each other. This leaves the citizen to play an important role in reviewing law enforcement and more specific through assessing procedures and policies and how the mentioned have been implemented. Such debates have led to citizen review processes on the police practices to remain a main issue resulting to several concerns about the effectiveness of this process. Some of the main concerns about the citizen review process have been discussed in this paper. The Role of Citizen Oversight in Policing, Comparing the Effectiveness of Citizen Oversight, And Inherent Problems in Investigating Citizen Complaints Citizens from all parts of the nation have been seen to try their best to hold police accountable for the powers vested in them which include domestic violence, officer misconduct, harrassment, justification of when to use force, and false arrest. There exist offices that are independent of the police department in almost every major city as well as smaller cities. The offices have been established with an aim of deterring police so as to keep their department in check for their practices and actions. There is also a review board of the citizens made up of reviews by the city council on complains brought forward in relation to how the police conduct themselves (Goldsmith, 1991). The manager of the cities with such initiatives takes charge of reviewing the public complains on regular basis and goes ahead to come up with recommendations on whether the involved police officers fit to face the review committee in relation to the complaints facing them. Citizen oversight in United States has been regarded as being consistent with the society that is democratic and has remained favorable now that the police look to enjoy more power as compared to the common citizen. The implemented programs on citizen oversight take complaints facing the police and go ahead to investigate the allegations. The programs are in such a way that they ensure the complaints have been reviewed, monitored for a given period of time and then audited. Such measures are viewed as proactive stands to issues which are systematic under the police organization. Despite such efforts, there are several factors that hinder these efforts by the civilians. Tthey include availability of resources, the support the police receive from politicians, support from activists, the public attitude and corruption in police. Some activists have come out strongly insisting that civilian oversight in different states is only required in police stations facing transitions happenings or in countries that are still developing. Civilian oversight has been credited for its impacts being directed to specifically the number and type of complaints presented before them. For such oversights to be more effective, they have to remain totally independent. The reviews are not meant to make the rest of the citizen lose their confidence in the powers given to the police by the State. They are meant to have the citizens develop a sense of democracy which they were deprived the moment the police were given the powers to govern them completely without avail. Despite the fact that the police are always preaching that they are out to protect the citizens fundamental rights, they always end up assuming positions which abuse and violate these powers. This scenario calls for independent oversight mechanisms to be established such as the citizen oversight so as to ensure that police administrators account directly to the public in case they happen to abuse their police powers (Hickman, 2006). Critique the Effectiveness of Citizen Oversight as a Police Management Tool, And Early Warning Device The citizen oversight process is seen by many as being a warning device for abuse or intervention by the police as to restrains from acts like abuse of power and escalating abuse. This is achieved through the monitoring their tracks closely by having their daily dealings on the spot light. The citizens have the right to be treated in accordance with the human rights and the law. The citizen oversight independent agency is charged with the responsibility of monitoring the public complains and if the complains fit investigations they accommodate the complaint’s disposition. Such oversight are based on as early devices to determine if the complaints forwarded to them are worth being forwarded to the Department of Police to be investigated further (Miller, 2002). The board in charge of the review has the power to demand for the complaints classification in a span of seven days after a complaint has been filed. This can only happen if the complaint does not comply with the Chief of Police and this will call for a written explanation of the reasons why the classification was not allowed. The above provides complete accountability to the board in charge of the review process and its powers as well. The board given the task of reviewing has been awarded the powers to give recommendations in case it disagrees with the Police Chief’s classifications after the seven waiting days have elapsed. The board also has the authority to arrange hearing sessions related to the complaints from the citizens while on the other hand, the public is allowed to attend to such hearings which are normally held in the open. To ensure that the citizen oversight process operates effectively, a number of chains of command have been established through which any alleged misbehavior or abuse by the police are taken for them to be either sustained or overruled before any decision is reached at. This process is a long one hence enough time is set aside to make sure that every detail has to the followed to the latter. The end result is a desirable citizen oversight process that is very effective and serves as a management tool based on to have police officers abide by the conduct rules in their respective positions. In the case of a number of misbehavior allegations of officers from a given police station, then this can serve as supposition means of some kind of suspicious acts taking place in that department (Albuquerque Official Website, 2007). Such means are considered as warning signs to behaviors that are not ethical according to the law being practiced in such a police department. This leaves the responsibility to the citizen committee to carry out proper investigations to reveal these unethical behaviors and have the police officers responsible held accountable. The Police Conduct and Professional Standards offices are in charge for the decision making process concerning the behaviors viewed as unethical practiced by police officers. The auditor is allowed to be part of the investigation and also allowed to come up with recommendations on the procedures of the oversight and the policies used is a situation where it is not clear which behaviors are ethical and which ones are unethical. Discuss the “Sustain Rate” And How This Issue Can Affect Citizen Oversight Agencies The sustain rates determine if any allegation has enough evidence to support it so as to justify any disciplinary action to be taken against a police officer presented before the board. This implies that, when the sustain rate is higher, the citizen oversight board is better placed to have a police officer in question disciplined for the alleged misconduct in the process of carrying out his or her duties. The sustain rate indicates if a given independent operation shows signs of having control and has the ability to have the police department held responsible by using a number of measures as well as their success rates which entirely depend on such rates. When the success rates are evidently high, then there are possibilities of their success rates in future to depend on the progress of their current success rates (Tacoma Human Rights Commission, 2010). Sustain rates are affected by other factors like the availability of funding. Without the required resources for the citizen oversight to carry out an investigation, there is no way the oversight will be able to have a proper investigation thus it won’t be able to validate proper results. The appeals from citizens also affect sustain rates resulting to their increase in cases where the appeals are successful. By the citizen oversight board having various instruments of collecting data before it, then it will be better placed to validate the sustain rates and have them accurately reported. This is because in situations where the boards in charge of the reviewing process consist of officers, chances are that the data integrity will be compromised severely because of biasness. What Other Issues Do You See As Important In Discussing Citizen Review Of Police Conduct? The other issues that have proved important when it comes to the citizen oversight process are the issues that have to be directly investigated by the auditors. This follows the importance of such issues and their consequences to the police officers now that the auditor’s recommendations bound them in relations to deaths and complains. Coming up with an oversight commission that is sustainable is an issue of great importance that has to be discussed taking into consideration the review process of the citizens towards the police misconducts. Political and organizational developments have been identified as being responsible for the frequent challenges on the increased growth of such entities. The support the police receive has stood out as a fervent factor which either demises or supports review boards on civilian police power. In several states in US, police fought fervently opposing the review boards of the citizens through independent agencies (Merton, 1997). The leadership of police was largely responsible for the weakening of the power and roles enjoyed by the civilian leadership. Community activities who engage in laws on human rights offer reliable sources for entities on civilian oversight across Europe and the United States. The public’s attitude also plays a significant role in deciding whether the required resources are readily available to be used in funding investigations on organizations that are independent. Conclusion For a citizen oversight to be successful, it has to depend strongly on management and leadership. The above play a significant role in coming up with a profile that is positive so as to gain more support. It is equally important for the oversight agencies to effectively meet their mandate and offer efficient service. A system that is ideal should be in a position to leave complaints that are to be investigated to the professionals responsible for law enforcement and should remain subject to citizen’s reviews that are ultimate. Any means used to keep the police on check, be it departments of law enforcement, government checks or citizen review systems cannot operate effectively unless they all observe honest and are managed by diligent people. The subculture of the police which is constantly moving towards professionalization has to be entrusted with more responsibility in order to facilitate behavior modification of officers. Citizen oversight has proved to be important in permitting professionals responsible for law enforcement to get feedback from the personnel who are not included in the system and familiarize the public with law enforcement responsibilities. References Albuquerque Official Website. (2007). Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.cabq.gov/progress/governmental-excellence-effectiveness/dcc-49/indicator-49-2 Goldsmith, A. (1991). Complaints against the Police: The Trend to External Review. New York: Oxford University Press. Hickman, M. (2006). Citizen Complaints about Police Use of Force. Retrieved June 18, 2012, from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ccpuf.pdf Merton, R. (1997). Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press Miller, J. (2002). Global Meeting on Civilian Oversight. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.vera.org/download?file=93/Civilian%2Boversight.pdf Tacoma Human Rights Commission. (2010). Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/cronews/CitizenOversightProposal.pdf Walker, S. (2000). Police Accountability: The Role of Citizen Oversight. New York: Wadsworth Publishing. Read More