NCJ Number
155087
Date Published
1994
Length
333 pages
Annotation
This book discusses the issue of police review in terms of a process in which any accountability system must rigorously investigate alleged police abuses and deter future malpractice, bridge the gap between police and citizens in determining the direction of police policy, and exonerate police officers who have acted properly and legally.
Abstract
Any monitoring process will necessarily concern itself with two methods of behavior control, namely regulation and socialization. This author argues that police accountability must develop from a compromise between externally imposed sanctioning systems and internalized, professional norms of conduct. Police review systems must balance the concerns of several interest groups and weigh the expertise of the professional against the desires of the public. The first section of the book discusses the problems of police review in terms of the nature of police malpractice, the limits of reform, and criteria for evaluation. The second section outlines the parameters of three types of police review systems: internal review, civilian review, and the civilian monitor. The final section discusses the implications of the foregoing analysis and describes an ideal police review system which would generate information for the purposes of future police development, convey information to training mechanisms and supervisors for the use and dissemination, and investigate and adjudicate specific complaint incidents. 3 appendixes and 247 references