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Police accountability involves holding both individual
police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s, as well as
law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...
responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and within the bounds of law. Police are expected to uphold laws, regarding
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
,
search and seizure Search and seizure is a procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person's property and confiscat ...
,
arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...
s,
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
, as well as other laws relating to equal employment,
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
, etc. Holding police accountable is important for maintaining the public's "faith in the system". Research has shown that the public prefers independent review of complaints against law enforcement, rather than relying on police departments to conduct internal investigations. There is a suggestion that such oversight would improve the public's view on the way in which police officers are held accountable.


United States

Special commissions, such as the
Knapp Commission The Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (known informally as the Knapp Commission, after its chairman Whitman Knapp) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption wit ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
during the 1970s, have been used to bring about changes in law enforcement agencies.
Civilian review board A civilian police oversight agency, also known as citizen review board or civilian review board, is a body of civilians in an American city that is tasked with reviewing and improving police officer conduct. These agencies are an implementation ...
s (permanent external oversight agencies) have also been used as a means for improving police accountability. Civilian review boards tend to focus on individual complaints, rather than broader organizational issues that may result in long-term improvements. The 1994
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, the Clinton Crime Bill, or the Biden Crime Law, is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is t ...
authorized the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
's
Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. T ...
to bring
civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...
("pattern or practice") suits against local law enforcement agencies, to reign in abuses and hold them accountable. As a result, numerous departments have entered into consent decrees or memoranda of understanding, requiring them to make organizational reforms. This approach shifts focus from individual officers to placing focus on police organizations.


Issues with accountability

In 1982, The
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
introduced the doctrine of
qualified immunity In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from civil suits unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "clearly established statu ...
in ''
Harlow v. Fitzgerald ''Harlow v. Fitzgerald'', 457 U.S. 800 (1982), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court involving the doctrines of qualified immunity and absolute immunity. Background Arthur Ernest Fitzgerald was a deputy for management systems in ...
'': In 2001 with '' Saucier v. Katz'' and ''
Pearson v. Callahan ''Pearson v. Callahan'', 555 U.S. 223 (2009), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court dealing with the doctrine of qualified immunity.. The case centered on the application of mandatory sequencing in determining qualified immunity a ...
'' the
US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
allowed courts to grant qualified immunity on the basis of clearly established law or lack of precedent, without the court having to subsequently clearly established the law.


United Kingdom

The United Kingdom addressed concerns of police accountability by enacting the
Police Act Police Act is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to police forces and officers. List India *Indian Police Act 1861 Malaysia *The Police Act 1967 United Kingdom *The Police (Property) Ac ...
in 1996. This act gave police authorities the responsibility to provide transparency regarding policing plans. In addition, they were given the task to monitor, collect and publish data regarding police performance, complaints and budgeting matters. Elected police and crime commissioners replaced police authorities responsibility for overseeing police forces beginning in 2012.


Discretion

The police professionalism approach introduced by
August Vollmer August "Gus" Vollmer (March 7, 1876 – November 4, 1955) was the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century. He has been de ...
and advocated by
O.W. Wilson Orlando Winfield Wilson (May 15, 1900 – October 18, 1972), also known as O. W. Wilson, was an American police officer, later becoming a leader in policing along with authoring several books on policing. Wilson served as Superintendent of the Ch ...
largely ignored issues of police accountability and how officers should handle situations involving
discretion Discretion has the meaning of acting on one's own authority and judgment. In law, discretion as to legal rulings, such as whether evidence is excluded at a trial, may be exercised by a judge. Some view discretion negatively, while some view it ...
. In order to prevent the misuse of discretion, it is necessary to establish a
Code of Ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...
to serve as a guideline. It is impossible to foresee a provision for every possible scenario; instead codes of ethics are used to provide officers a tool that is flexible, open for interpretation and can be applied in various manners depending on the situation at hand.


Use of force

Use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...
by police may involve
firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s, as well as other means. Prior to the 1970s, there were generally no written policies or review procedures regarding use of force by law enforcement in the United States. In 1972,
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy instituted a new policy that confined discretion in use of force to situations only where the officer's own life, or that of other people are in danger. This ''defense of life'' rule replaced the ''fleeing felon rule''. The 1985 Supreme Court decision, '' Tennessee v. Garner'' ruled that police may only use deadly force to prevent escape ''when'' the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. Since the NYPD instituted new policies on use of force, many other law enforcement agencies have followed suit, establishing a written policy that set guidelines as to when use of force is appropriate. Procedures may include requiring officers to file written reports following each incident. For incidents involving
firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s or other use of deadly force, internal investigation and review is often required. A mechanism in place for administrative review of other use of force incidents may also be part of the policy. Not all law enforcement agencies in the United States had instituted reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. The United States Department of Justice investigated patterns of abuse within the
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police The Pittsburgh Police (PBP), officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania. The modern force of salaried and professional officers was founded in ...
, among other agencies, and brought legal action to force changes.
Less-than-lethal Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...
weapons, such as chemical sprays, are used as alternatives to deadly force. These weapons also require policies on their use, along with training on proper use. Police officers are also encouraged to consider a use of force continuum, and try to deescalate situations with verbal warnings and persuasion.


Body cameras

Studies have shown that police officers that wear body cameras while on duty have fewer instances of misconduct and excessive force. In addition, it appears their usage is responsible for a decline in complaints against officers. In order for the usage of body-cameras to be effective, it is important that police officers ensure they are functioning correctly. The devices are not immune to malfunctioning, which could cause critical gaps in recordings. In addition, they can easily be manipulated to face a different direction, or the view can easily be obstructed by other means. Studies have shown that in more than half of instances where force was used by officers, the body-camera failed to capture the interactions due to above mentioned "failures". Some are worried about the privacy of victims who may be recorded by police officers wearing body cameras, raising concerns regarding possible retaliation against those captured cooperating with law enforcement. After the fatal shootings of several civilians and suspects who didn't seemingly posed a threat, President Barack Obama vowed in 2015 to increase funding for body-worn cameras across the United States. U.S. police departments lasted several decades without the use of body cameras, and the development of the camera was not introduced without mixed opinions about the use of the new equipment from American citizens. A
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...
study shows that in 2016, 89% of Americans supported the use of body cameras while the remaining 11% had been opposed to the idea. This argument rose much speculation on whether or not body cameras were worth raising taxes to fund. Studies show that the public was nearly split down the middle with 51% supporting the idea of raising their taxes to help outfit the police department with the equipment, while 49% were not as willing to do so. Before body cameras, supervision of police officers were handled much differently by their department. According to the United States Department of Justice, with the amount of officers on the field, supervision over each individual cop was a difficult task. The Department of Justice noted that most officials worked alone and that depending on their location, along with the time of their shift, direct oversight was not realistic. Therefore, most accounts of each dispute with an officer was left up to either filling out documentation, or first hand oral reports. The United States Department of Justice also stated that most that supervisors on the force were mostly used for encouraging their fellow officers to make the right decisions on the job to avoid any ill-advised decisions. In 2016 further research was completed by Rasmussen University, and in the data that was collected by the University showed many concerns from multiple local police departments were voiced. One of the concerns was centered around the storage of all of the daily footage shot on the aforementioned cameras. Stating that many officers were worried that storing and/or managing evidence will become much more complex in later years with all of the video that is collected. In a 2016 study conducted by the
Bureau of Justice Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of crim ...
, data presented from multiple different sheriff offices and police departments that there was a 78% increase on the quality of admissible evidence, meanwhile civilian complaints dropped 81%. As far as the safety of police officers, it improved 82% within those specific departments chosen for the study. The Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that there was approximately 36% of departments felt that the body worn cameras were an invasion of privacy, along with 26% of sheriff offices according to data received from 2016. Nonetheless according to Rasmussen University, by the end of 2016 the majority of Police and Sheriff Departments were overall in favor of the use of body worn cameras on officers.


Vehicle pursuits

Vehicle pursuits are another use of police power that can involve much discretion on part of the officer. However, if a pursuit is conducted
negligently Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
, resulting in death or injury, the law enforcement agency can be held
liable In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencie ...
under civil law in the United States. Vehicle pursuits have increasingly been covered under written law enforcement agency policy, to help regulate circumstances and manner that they are conducted.


Police accountability organizations

There are several police accountability organizations in the United States that intend to curb instances of police misconduct. These organizations may focus on changing legislation, promoting awareness, or encouraging people to document incidents of police misconduct.
Bad Apple
an
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
collaboration between Priveasy and the Aaron Swartz Day Police Surveillance Project, providing valuable tools and resources with the aim of holding law enforcement accountable and putting an end to police misconduct. *
Coalition Against Police Abuse The Coalition Against Police Abuse (CAPA) is a currently active community organization in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, larg ...
, a Los Angeles focused group that focuses on police abuse against marginalized communities * Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, a New York City focused group that deals with police abuse along with many other issues * Communities United for Police Reform, an internet campaign founded in the wake of NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy * Cop Block, a libertarian internet platform reporting on police abuse stories *
El Grito de Sunset Park El Grito de Sunset Park is a Puerto Rican activist organization in Brooklyn that has been described as a police watchdog. History One of the founders of El Grito de Sunset Park is Dennis Flores, a "cop watcher" who began documenting the acti ...
, a Puerto Rican activist group co-founded by Dennis Flores. * National Police Accountability Project, a project of the
National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 193 ...
* Peaceful Streets Project, a national grassroots organization founded by Antonio Buehler * We Copwatch, an Oakland-based grassroots organization founded by Jacob Crawford


See also

*
Blue wall of silence The blue wall of silence, also blue code and blue shield, are terms used to denote the supposed informal code of silence among police officers in the United States not to report on a colleague's errors, misconducts, or crimes, especially as rel ...
*
Police misconduct Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: false confession, coerced false confession, intimidation, false arre ...
*
Whistleblower protection in the United States A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The Whistleblower Protection Act was made into federal law in ...


Notes


References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Police Accountability Law enforcement Police misconduct Police brutality Black Lives Matter Accountability