Tag: Police Accountability

ACLU SoCal v. Inglewood

In 2018, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1421, landmark legislation that made serious uses of force and officer misconduct available to the public through California Public Record Act (“CPRA”) requests. However, right before this new law could take effect, the City of Inglewood and the Inglewood Police Department destroyed decades of police use of force and misconduct records—forever shielding these records from public view.

Three years later, after the passage of follow-up legislation (Senate Bill 16) that expanded the categories of records that would be disclosable to the public, the Inglewood City Council once again authorized the destruction of decades of police use of force and misconduct records. This time, the records slated for destruction included those responsive to the ACLU of Southern California’s CPRA request for police misconduct and use of force records, as well as a pending CPRA request from Ms. Trisha Shanklin concerning the Inglewood Police Department’s killing of her sister, Ms. Kisha Michael. In response, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California filed suit and was granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the City of Inglewood and Inglewood Police Department (“Defendants”) from destroying records responsive to the ACLU request during the pendency of litigation.

Make sure to check out the 3 publications associated with this post.

Read more HERE

Rochester police push back on PAB policing tech report, call it ‘misleading’

A big part of the report is about the city’s blue light camera program, saying it’s being used to over-surveille predominantly Black or Hispanic neighborhoods.
— Read on 13wham.com/news/local/rochester-police-push-back-on-pab-police-accountability-board-policing-technology-report-calls-it-misleading

Get the PAB report HERE

EXCLUSIVE: NYPD Rejects Ending ‘Self-Enforcement’ Scandal at Precinct Houses – Streetsblog New York City

This is about improper police parking.

Police brass are refusing to implement a major reform recommended by city probers earlier this year. And the agency won’t say why.
— Read on nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/11/25/exclusive-nypd-rejects-ending-self-enforcement-scandal-at-precinct-houses

Interesting Reports on the Chicago Police Department by the Chicago Office of the Inspector General.

Chicago Office of the Inspector General WEBSITE

Follow-up to OIG’s Evaluation of Fairness and Consistency in the Disciplinary Process for CPD Members

Summary

The Public Safety section of the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a follow-up to its June 2022 evaluation, Fairness and Consistency in the Disciplinary Process for Chicago Police Department (CPD) Members. In this follow-up, OIG assesses the corrective actions taken by the agencies in response to each recommendation.
Get the report HERE.

Public Safety 2025 Outlook on Police Oversight and Accountability

Summary

The Public Safety section of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) works to improve the effectiveness, accountability, and transparency of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Chicago’s police accountability agencies, and to transform the critical relationship between CPD and the communities it serves.
Get the report HERE.

Use of the Affidavit Override in Disciplinary Investigations of Chicago Police Department Members Follow-Up

Summary

The Public Safety section of the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General has completed a follow-up to its December 2020 “Evaluation of the Use of the Affidavit Override in Disciplinary Investigations of Chicago Police Department Members.”
Get the report HERE.

Staffing: Sworn Chicago Police Department Members Assigned with Patrol Duties

Summary

Whether responding to a 911 call or patrolling a Beat, Chicago Police Department (CPD) members are essential to ensuring public safety by responding to emergencies and being present in communities. Yet, measuring CPD’s patrol presence in a particular location in the City is a complex, opaque, and imprecise exercise.
Get the report HERE.

KCPD car wrecks cost taxpayers $1 million | KCUR – Kansas City news and NPR

The issue with settlements of this kind is they are vastly more political than a trial. Settlements can be agreed to purely on the notion of what will get me the most votes. It’s very difficult to have settlements indicate guilt when the processes is more political than a trial. 

A 10-month KCUR investigation revealed that the Kansas City Police Department accepts liability for approximately two wrecks per month. Over three years, the department paid out more than $1 million in legal settlements.
— Read on www.kcur.org/news/2025-06-23/kcpd-car-crash-lawsuit-settlement-kansas-city-police

ACLU and Community Groups Launch Campaign to Demand Justice and Transparency as Trump DOJ Abandons Federal Police Oversight | American Civil Liberties Union

Commentary:  2 key concepts about policing that are important to understand.

The first is policing is local.  Police in California and New York are similar but they are also different.  If a police department in California does something improper that is not an indication that the police in New York are doing the same improper act.   This leads to the second point, Governmental Home Rule.  This means that each municipality is it’s own government.  This allows the local city, town, or village (c-t-v) to have dominion over it’s municipal agencies.  This allows each local government to control it’s police department.  Therefor each municipal government, if it chooses, can MANDATE police reform of it’s local police department.

The bottom line is that the DOJ is not needed to initiate police reform.  The Governments in Memphis, TN, Louisville, KY, Lexington, MS, Phoenix, AZ, Minneapolis, MN, Mount Vernon, NY, and Worcester, MA, can force their local police department to initiate or continue reforms suggested from the DOJ investigations.

When police department reform is initiated at the local level it works better.  The Mayor or Supervisor of a C-T-V calls for police reform, the Council or Trustees support it (at least through a budget line), the Chief or Commissioner of the police department makes the change.  If the Chief/Commissioner doesn’t follow through with the reform that can be fired.  If the Council or Trustees don’t support the reform efforts they can be voted out of office.  The same with the Mayor or Supervisor if they don’t mandate police reform they can be voted out of office.  Now the citizens have a voice, if they think reform is not needed they can use their voices and votes to make changes.  The same if a large enough group is calling for reform they can pressure their local government to make changes.

This is much better that having the secret DOJ control local police reform.  The C-T-V elected officials have no voice, only to agree with the DOJ’s findings.  The community can’t pressure anyone because the DOJ is not elected by the community.

The ACLU Press Release

The Seven States Safety Campaign targets police departments where the Biden DOJ found rampant police brutality and racial targeting
— Read on www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-and-community-groups-demand-justice-and-transparency-as-trump-doj-abandons-federal-police-oversight

Citizens Police Oversight Commission Releases Annual Report Highlighting Progress Toward Police Accountability, Transparency, and Community Trust | Citizens Police Oversight Commission | City of Philadelphia

The Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) today announced the release of its 2024 Annual Report, a detailed account of the agency’s growing impact in building a more transparent, accountable, and community-centered system of policing in Philadelphia.

The 2024 Annual Report details a year of significant progress for CPOC, despite a challenging national environment for police oversight agencies. Under the leadership of Executive Director Tonya McClary, Esq., who was appointed in May 2024, CPOC has taken major steps to strengthen its oversight functions, engage the public, and advocate for systemic reforms.

“Even with the challenges we faced in 2024, CPOC remained resolutely committed to fostering transparency, accountability, and trust between the community and law enforcement,” said McClary. “Our work is helping to shape a future that is safer, fairer, and filled with opportunities for every Philadelphian.”

Here is an interesting graphic from the report
— Read on www.phila.gov/2025-04-24-citizens-police-oversight-commission-releases-annual-report-highlighting-progress-toward-police-accountability-transparency-and-community-trust/

Get a .PDF copy of the report HERE