Civilian Review Boards Involve Using Mediation As A Means Of Complaint Resolution

_ An independent review board in the executive branch. This proposal envisions a review board composed of nonpolice personnel to review allegations of violations of constitutional rights by the police. The problem with this alternative is that police oppose it because it singles them out among public officials for differential treatment. Moreover, outsiders are viewed by the police as unlikely to be able to understand the difficulties and dangers inherent in police work.

When one thinks of police misconduct many not too distant stories might go through our heads. Most adults will remember how they felt when they saw the brutal beating of Rodney King on their local news station; or the outrage they experienced when they heard that the evidence in the OJ Simpson trial had been tampered with. But thanks to new guidelines, procedures and even civilian groups who now “police” the police, instances of police misconduct may soon start seeing a decline.

Police officers are generally well-respected in American society. They should be, since officers protect the public from drunk drivers, gunmen and other threats to the commonwealth. However, in light of uncovered events involving the misconduct of police officers, these events call into question the ability of police officers to successfully protect and serve the American people. However, in 2010, 6,613 law enforcement officers were reported for involvement in misconduct which varied from excessive force, sexual misconduct et cetera (Packman). Having 6,613 reported cases of police misconduct in America is ridiculous, especially since it is hard validating the claims against officers and it is difficult to punish officers because of this lack of evidence. While the purpose of police officers in society is to protect the commonwealth of the people, the amount of police misconduct in the United States of America involving excessive force and sexual misconduct is detrimental to the credibility of all police officers. This in turn causes rifts and distrust among the American people concerning officers. Police misconduct can be reduced in American society by requiring police officers to wear cameras while on duty, having a clear definition on what excessive force is and defining how much force is legal for an officer to utilize, and better training geared to improve overall conduct with citizens, especially mentally ill citizens.

The third solution is increasing the scope of common-unity oversight programs. Considering the important role that police officers have in the community, the people should be involved in the decision-making processes that they undertake. By partnering with the local common-unities, police officers will receive better treatment from local common-unities, resulting in the use of less force while they are undertaking their roles. Additionally, civilian review boards should be developed to allow common-unities and law enforcement officers to work together, enhancing transparency in law enforcement activities.

The CCRB is a self-reliant department in New York City, which stands for “Civilian Complaint Review Board.” (Civilian Complaint Review Board, 2014) At times police officers do things they aren’t suppose to, like using violence that can be avoided or some other type of misconduct. There are many complaints about police officers not doing their job right or doing something wrong and that is why the CCRB was created in 1996. Now when there are complaints about police officers misbehaving, the CCRB investigates and examines the situation to confirm whether the complaint was true or false. There are many ways to file a complaint, like going to the CCBR office or go to any police station and you can just call or write a letter. After you file a complaint, you will be called to the office to tell them the situation and what exactly happened. The CCBR staff is fully positioned with civilian employees. (Civilian Complaint Review Board, 2014)

Due to the lack of access to the information of police officer’s conduct and cooperation from the police officers involved, instead of establishing independent review boards made up of local citizens to monitor alleged police misconduct as was done in the 1970s and 1980s, the government should alternatively open an independent channel for any citizens to report such misconduct (“Police Brutality”) . A citizen, for example, witnesses a illegal police searching could videotape it and send to an independent agency for further investigation. In this scenario, if the citizen, instead, sends the video to the police department, chances are the evidence will be buried by the police officer videotaped or his other connections at the department. As such, this policy would draw attention to some police misconduct that would otherwise go

The CCRB is an independent board responsible for conducting complaints that have concerns dealing with: force that is excessive or unnecessary, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and offensive language (Civilian Complaint Review Board). After a two day training course offered at the Police Academy, a ride-along in a police vehicle and general education on firearms and tactics at the New York Police Department (NYPD) outdoor firing range, civilian staff members are then able to conduct investigations while under the supervision of managers with a minimum of eight years of experience (Civilian Complaint Review Board). During the process of investigating a case, an investigator must gather an in-person statement, witness statements, evidence, and police officer interviews. After the investigation is finished, it is then given to a panel of board members that then vote on whether there was misconduct or not (Civilian Complaint Review Board). If it is determined that there was misconduct, the investigation is then sent to a police commissioner that then decides the discipline. In most cases, the commissioner ignores the CCRB’s recommendations and issues lesser to no penalty at all (Editorial Board). Raymond Kelly served as the longest commissioner of the NYPD from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2013. Kelly

One method of police oversight is the Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission. The Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission is made up of a group of 5 citizens who are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. It is required that at least one member needs to be of First Nations ancestry, one member be of Metis ancestry and one a lawyer. SPCC accepts complaints from citizens concerned about the actions of a specific Police Officer or Officers. Once they receive a complaint they do a preliminary inquiry to determine if the complaint is worthy of an investigation. If they determine that is is worthy, they then decide whether the investigation should be carried out by the Commission, the police service that the complainant is a member

Yes, a citizen should possess the right to judge the action of a police officer as many of the examples of police profiling are public discussions, and the justice system often does not penalize them for their activities. The civilian review board reviews, citizen complaints against the police and other allegations of wrongful conduct by police officers. The principal function of the boards is usually to provide independent inspection of specific instances of police abuse to define whether the internal processes used by police are legitimate. After the CRB has completed its investigation, they could cause, and recommendation to the police chief need to arrive at an appropriate and informed about disciplinary action. Also, CRB provides valuable

According to Cole, Smith and De Jong (2014) excessive use of force is the application of force against individuals by police officers that violate either departmental policies or constitutional rights by exceeding the level of force permissible and necessary in a given situation. Police are held accountable in such ways as having the internal affairs unit, civilian review boards, standards and accreditation, and lastly civil liability. The internal affairs unit investigates and receives complaints against officers. Officers who are charged with a misconduct can face several disciplinary actions and criminal prosecutions that can lead to termination, suspension or resignation. Civilian review board is a committee made of citizens who investigate police departments when they cannot effectively show combats of corruption with officers. The public requests the civilian review board to investigate the department (Cole et al., 2014).

However, the breakdown of complaints are as followed: 34% of those complaints had insufficient evidence to prove the officer was in misconduct, 25% of the complaints were not based on factual evidence, 23% of these complaints against an officers use of force indeed did happen but was deemed by the jury to be lawful, and 8% of the complaints lead to a disciplinary action due to the officer being in violation (“U.S. Department”). Furthermore, the statistics over the span of April 2009 through June 2010 represents the numbers of reports filed against police officers due to them handling a situation in a nonprofessional and violent-like manner which was reported to be 5,986 during that time frame. Out of the 5,986 reports filed, 382 of those reports claimed a death due to an officer’s misconduct. 33% of the misconduct cases presented throughout April 2009 through June 2010 were officers proven to be guilty of such an offense by the jury, and 64% of the misconduct cases led to imprisonment of the officer whom committed such crime. (Chaney and Robertson 485).

Mediation is a different process to reach a resolution for parties that find themselves in a family court matter. Mediation is a part of the process ran by the courts by individuals that are unbiased and yet knowledgably about family law matters and the law. The courts want couples to give mediation a try before taking the matter before the judge in case some issues can be worked out beforehand. Attorneys are not included in this process. What happens in mediation is all parties will work on the issues at hand as peaceful as possible and in a manner to hopefully reach amicable outcomes, with a third party to help oversee this process and help negotiate their issues. These issues that can be heard in mediation are many and can be a wide variety of needs from the parties. These issues can be negotiation of assets, debts, child and spousal support, and visitation and custody matters of any children involved in the case.

Mediation causes a great deal of impact on American society. In the movie Gamer, characters deal with a never ending cycle of competition and become trapped in conflict. Superficial worlds collide with reality and these worlds impact every citizen in the film. A viewer watching the film may feel disgusted at the thought of being controlled as easily as characters in Gamer are, but the sad truth lies within the reality of our own, mediated world. Gamer plays on viewers’ pre-conceived beliefs mediation causes. The common beliefs of competition making the world spin around and money buying happiness, trap us as citizens in a vicious cycle of conflict with the world around us.

Assembly bill 1953 Peace officers: civilian complaints. Law requires every department/agency that uses police officer to have a system in order to investigate the complaints that civilians file towards the peace officers. So basically be able to create a technique where it facilitates the civilians to file a complaint and after for the department to do a full investigation toward the allegation from the civilian. An existing law makes it a crime for civilian to file a complaint that is false. Moreover, it is required that the law agency enforcement where civilians go to file their complaint make sure that the civilian reads and sign that he/she acknowledge that the allegation is true and understands the consequences of the law if further investigation

Throughout the years there has been many definitions of mediation. Nevertheless one the most acceptable definition of mediation refers to this procedure as a “…process in which the participants, with the support of a mediator, identify issues, develop options, consider alternatives and make decisions about future actions…” . They also described mediators as the third party assisting the participants in reaching their decision. This process should form a part of the pre-trial civil litigation process as its advantages on the legal system and the community outweigh its disadvantages. The distinguishing models of mediation make it a suitable approach for all or most civil cases.