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US
Commission
on
Civil
Rights
Report
to
Urge
Crackdown
on
Police
Abuses
11/10/00
The US Commission on Civil
Rights (USCCR -- http://www.usccr.gov),
an independent executive branch agency mandated to investigate civil rights
violations, will soon issue a report on police misconduct that concludes
that police brutality and abuse of power remain intractable problems in
the United States.
The commission, headed by
Mary Frances Berry, approved the report's findings on November 4th by a
5-1 vote.
A USCCR spokeswoman told
DRCNet the full report will be released "in a couple of months, not a couple
of weeks."
In the meantime, DRCNet has
obtained a draft copy of the report's executive summary, which lauds big
city police forces for reducing crime, but concludes that "these improvements
come at a terrible price."
The commission singled out
New York City and Los Angeles, saying that while they managed to reduce
crime, they "have not developed into world class police forces, however,
due to lingering concerns over the number and type of police misconduct
charges they must address."
The report is the latest
to follow in the footsteps of the commission's groundbreaking 1981 report
on police abuse, "Who Will Guard the Guardians?" The USCCR continues
to be active, holding hearings in cities across the country and issuing
reports on police departments where it finds problems.
In the executive summary
draft, the commission sketches a set of guidelines and objectives designed
to remedy police misconduct. Among them:
-
Measures to end the practice
of racial profiling by police need to be given "the highest priority."
Congress should provide the Department of Justice with sufficient funding
to collect national statistics on the practice.
-
Diversity in police forces remains
lacking. Many police forces "have been unable to accomplish or sustain
diversity." The commission called for "creative strategies" to increase
diversity.
-
Reforms are needed in police
training. "Effective training must incorporate contemporary issues
such as cultural sensitivity, use of force, racial profiling, and community
policing into the basic crime prevention methods."
-
Both internal and external controls
over police must be strengthened. Finding problems with the internal
regulation of police misconduct, the commission will recommend oversight
go to civilian review boards with subpoena power and disciplinary power
regarding investigations of police abuses. The commission will also
call for the increased use of federal monitors to oversee problem forces,
as is currently the case in Los Angeles.
-
Congress should amend the US
criminal code to remove the requirement that federal prosecutors prosecuting
police misconduct under the civil rights statutes prove the officers acted
with "specific intent" to violate someone's civil rights.
-- END --
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Issue #159, 11/10/00
No Bark, Strong Bite: The Drug War and Elections 2000 | Follow That Story: Riders Take a Fall in Oakland Police Scandal | Follow That Story: Police Shooter Indicted in Tennessee "Wrong Address" Killing | US Commission on Civil Rights Report to Urge Crackdown on Police Abuses | Drug Czar's Public Affairs Director Thrown Off Microphone At Campus Politically Correct Appearance | Follow That Story: Tattered Cover Bookstore Will Appeal Court Order to Open Records in Drug Investigation | Newsbriefs: Federal Judges in San Diego Swamped by Drug War, Immigrant Arrests | The Reformer's Calendar
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