Investigation and Disciplining of Police Misconduct - A Comparative View

• NCJ Number: 105224
• Journal: Police Studies Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1987) Pages: 1-15
• Author(s): D Fogel
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article is a comparative inquiry into how three major western cities (Paris, London, and Chicago) respond to citizen complaints alleging police misconduct.

Abstract

Civilian oversight of police is a relatively new (and growing) process. Many variations exist in North America, Europe, and Australia. In the United Kingdom the new Police Complaints Authority has recently replaced the Police Complaints Board. The evolution of the PCA is traced as part of a continuous process emergence. The PCA now supervises police investigations of other police accused of misconduct. PCA may determine who the investigating office will be for the 43 English police forces. It may change a recommended discipline and in collaboration with the Director of Public Prosecutions seek indictments. Outcome data comparing the more forceful PCA with its predecessor PCB is presented. In France the police complaint process is less forceful. The system is (sometimes cynically) referred to as the 'police of the police.' It lacks what the French call 'transparence' (openness). However, the history of French bureaucracy as a separate entity of government in part explains the belated public clamor for more openness. Civilians (except for police union representatives) do not play a role in the French system of disciplining police. Civilians in England and France do investigations of allegations. In Chicago the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards (all civilians) both investigates and recommends discipline in sustained cases against police officers. This article also compares the processes Chicago, London, and Paris employ to register a complaint and investigate it and further compares severity of punishment. This is an exploratory study. Both the French and English are in the midst of public debate over the future of their police complaints procedures. The future of the English system is less clouded. (Publisher abstract)