Stakeholder Perspectives on Police Complaints and Discipline: Towards a Civilian Control Model

Abstract

This paper examines the case for independent investigation and adjudication of complaints against police, and the implications for restructuring of public sector institutions concerned with integrity. The need for external review of police in-house investigations is well established. However, there is now an accelerating trend for civilian agencies to go beyond review to engage directly in investigations and to have much greater input into disciplinary decisions.This paper reports on the experiences and principles behind this trend, focusing on the points of view of specific actors and stakeholders.These include commissions of inquiry, oversight agencies, complainants, police, the public, civil liberties groups, government review bodies and miscellaneous bodies. The perspectives of each of the groups were analysed to develop a distinctive “civilian control model” for maximising stakeholder confidence in police integrity.The model entails police management responsibility for primary misconduct prevention and informal resolution of complaints, with external agencies having control over the investigation and adjudication of complaints.The paper also argues for efficiency gains from integrating police oversight within a larger public sector integrity commission, especially in countries with large numbers of small police departments.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Civil Liberties Union . (1992). Fighting police abuse: A community action manual. New York: Author.

American Civil Liberties Union of Texas . (2000). Austin community supports police oversight. Police Accountability Project Fact Sheet #4. Austin: Author.

Anti-Corruption Commission . (1999). Annual report. Perth: Author.

Adams

(1997). One in two officers back existing system of complaints investigations. Police Review, 7 November, 4.

Adams

(1998). Consultation report of the Honourable George W Adams QC to the Attorney General and Solicitor General concerning police co-operation with the Special Investigations Unit. Ontario. Retrieved September 17, 2002, from http://www.siu.on.ca/about_subpage.asp?id=4

Adams

(1995). Measuring the prevalence of police abuse of force. In Geller

Toch

(Eds.), And justice for all: Understanding and controlling police abuse of force. Washington DC: Police Executive Research Forum.

Alexander

(1999). PASA president states police case in WA Parliament House. Police Journal Online, March. Retrieved August 13, 2001, from http://www.policejournalssa.org.au/9903/12a.html

Australian Law Reform Commission . (1975) Complaints against police. Canberra: Author.

Australian Law Reform Commission . (1995). Under the spotlight: Complaints against the AFP and NCA. Canberra: Author.

10.

Australian Law Reform Commission . (1996). Integrity: But not by trust alone, AFP and NCA complaints and disciplinary systems. Canberra: Author.

11.

Amnesty International . (1999). Race, riots and police brutality in the United States of America. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from http://www.amnestyusa.org/rightsforall/police/

12.

Association of Police Authorities . (2000). Response from the Association of Police Authorities to the Government Consultation Paper on Complaints Against the Police. Retrieved August 13, 2001, from http://www.apa.police.uk/news_views_papers/ComplaintsVpolice.html

13.

Ayres

Braithwaite

(1992). Responsive regulation: Transcending the deregulation debate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

14.

Barry

(2000). LA Police Union calls for civilian oversight. APBnews.com. Retrieved August 13, 2001, from http://www.ipsn.org/2000-10-06.htm

15.

Bayley

(1991). Preface. In Goldsmith

(Ed.), Complaints against the police, The trend to external review. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

16.

Bayley

(2001). Democratizing the police abroad: What to do and how to do it. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

17.

Black

(1980). The manners and customs of the police. New York: Academic Press.

18.

Brown

(1987). The police complaints procedure: A survey of complainants' views. London: Home Office.

19.

CCRC . (1999). Report. Calgary: Citizen Complaints Review Committee, Calgary Police Commission.

20.

Criminal Justice Commission . (1994). Informal complaint resolution in the Queensland Police Service: An evaluation. Brisbane: Author.

21.

Criminal Justice Commission . (1996). Submission to the Queensland Police Service Review Committee. Brisbane: Author.

22.

Criminal Justice Commission . (1997a). Integrity in the Queensland Police Service: Implementation and impact of the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms. Brisbane: Author.

23.

Criminal Justice Commission . (1997b). Police and drugs. Brisbane: Author.

24.

Criminal Justice Commission . (2000). Public attitudes toward the CJC. Brisbane: Author.

25.

Daily News Bulletin . (2002). 18 May. Retrieved July 4, 2002, from http://global.factiva.com/en/arch/display.asp

26.

Editorial . (1997). Independence is the only answer. Police: The voice of the service, XXIX/13, 5.

27.

Fitzgerald

(1989). Report of a Commission of Inquiry pursuant to orders in Council. Brisbane: Goprint.

28.

Gannon

(2002). Afghan chief faces huge task. Akron Beacon Journal, 22(June), A2.

29.

Goldsmith

(Ed.) (1991a). Complaints against the police: The trend to external review. Oxford:Clarendon Press.

30.

Goldsmith

(1991b). External review and self-regulation. In Goldsmith

(Ed.), Complaints against the police: The trend to external review. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

31.

Goldsmith

(1996). What's wrong with complaint investigations? Dealing with difference differently in complaints against police. Criminal Justice Ethics, 15, 36–55.

32.

Grabosky

Braithwaite

(1986). Corporate crime and government response in Australia. In Chappell

Wilson

(Eds.), The Australian criminal justice system: The mid-1980s. Sydney: Butterworths.

33.

Hayes

(1997). A police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland? London: The Stationery Office.

34.

Henry

(1994). Police corruption: Tradition and evolution. In Bryett

Lewis

(Eds.), Unpeeling tradition: Contemporary policing. Melbourne: Macmillan.

35.

Herzog

(2000). Evaluating the New Civilian Complaints Board in Israel. In Goldsmith

Lewis

(Eds.), Civilian oversight of police: Governance, democracy and human rights. Oxford: Hart.

36.

Herzog

(2002). Police violence in Israel: Has the establishment of a Civilian Complaints Board made a difference? Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 3, 119–133.

37.

Home Affairs Committee. (1997). First report, police complaints and disciplinary procedures. London. Retrieved August 10, 2001, from http://www.parliamentary.the-statione...8/cmselect/cmhaff.258-i.ha0103.htm

38.

Home Office. (2000). Complaints against police: Framework for a new system. London: Home Office.

39.

Human Rights Watch. (1998). Shielded from justice: Police brutality and accountability in the United States. New York: Human Rights Watch.

40.

Independent Commission Against Corruption. (2000). Annual report. Hong Kong: Author.

41.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2000). Police accountability and citizen review: A leadership opportunity for police chiefs. Alexandria, VA: Author.

42.

Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland. (1999). A new beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Author.

43.

Independent Police Complaints Commission. (2002). Annual report and accounts of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. London: Stationery Office.

44.

INQUEST. (2001). INQUEST'S response to “Complaints against the police — Framework for a new system”. Retrieved August 30, 2001 from http://www.gn.apc.org/inquest/ipccsub.html

45.

Jenkins

(1997). Independent body to investigate police has public support in poll. Police Review, 17 October, 4.

46.

Kerner

(1968). Report of the National Advisory Commission on civil disorders. Washington, DC.

47.

Knapp

(1972). The Knapp Commission Report on police corruption. New York: George Braziller.

48.

KPMG. (2000). Feasibility of an independent system for investigating complaints against the police. London: KPMG/Home Office.

49.

Landau

(1994). Public complaints against the police: A view from complainants. Toronto: Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto.

50.

Landau

(1996). When police investigate police: A view from complainants. Canadian Journal of Criminology, July, 291–315.

51.

Los Angeles Police Protective League. (2000). Los Angeles Police Protective League offers 15 recommendations for improving DOJ consent decree. Press release. Retrieved August 13, 2001, from http://www.lapd.com/site3/news/news_100500.html

52.

Lewis

(1999). Complaints against the police: The politics of reform. Sydney: Hawkins Press.

53.

Liberty. (2000). An independent police complaints commission. London: Liberty, The National Council for Civil Liberties.

54.

MacPherson

(1999). The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. London: Stationery Office.

55.

Maguire

Corbett

(1991). A study of the police complaints system. London: Stationery Office.

56.

Marin

(1976). The report of the Commission of Inquiry Relating to Public Complaints, internal discipline and grievance procedure within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ottowa: Solicitor General of Canada.

57.

McDonald

Justice.

(1981). Freedom and security under the law, report of the Commission of Inquiry into certain activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.

58.

McGuire Research Services. (2000). Public satisfaction survey: New York City Police Department. New York: New York City Council.

59.

Melville

(1999). The taming of the blue, Regulating police misconduct in South Africa. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

60.

Milton-Edwards

(2000). Called to account: Civilian oversight in the Palestinian context. In Goldsmith

A. Lewis_C.

(Eds.), Civilian oversight of police: Governance, democracy and human rights. Oxford: Hart.

61.

Mollen

(1994). Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department: Commission report. New York: City of New York.

62.

Neuman

(1997). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

63.

NSW Ombudsman. (1995). Police internal investigations: Poor quality police investigations into complaints of police misconduct. Sydney: Author.

64.

New York Civil Liberties Union. (1998). The NYCLU special report: Five years of civilian review: A mandate unfulfilled. New York: Author.

65.

Ombudsman Victoria. (1999). Annual report 1998/99. Melbourne: Ombudsman Victoria.

66.

Oppal

(1994). Closing the gap: Policing and the community: The report. British Columbia: Policing in British Columbia Commission of Inquiry.

67.

Police Authority for Northern Ireland. (1998). A submission by the Police Authority for Northern Ireland to the Independent Commission on Policing. Belfast: Author.

68.

Parks

Smith

(1999). The 1992 Los Angeles riots, Lessons learned, changes made. Retrieved July 3, 2002 from http://www.lapdonline.org/

69.

Police Complaints Authority. (1998). Annual report. London: Author.

70.

Police Complaints Authority. (2000a). Reform of the police complaints system: PCA response. London: Author.

71.

Police Complaints Authority. (2000b). Annual report. London: Author.

72.

Police Complaints Commissioner. (2001). Annual report. Victoria: Police Complaints Commissioner, British Columbia.

73.

Police Integrity Commission. (1998). Annual report 1997–98. Sydney: Author.

74.

Police Integrity Commission. (2000). Special report to Parliament: Project Dresden, an audit of the quality of NSW Police Service Internal Investigations. Sydney: Author.

75.

Police Association. (1995). Submission to the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service. Sydney: Police Association of NSW.

76.

Police Federation. (1997). Where we stand, Police accountability. Police Federation of England and Wales. Retrieved August 21, 2001 from www.polfed.org.uk/wherewes.html

77.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. (2002a). First annual report. Belfast: Author.

78.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. (2002b). Public awareness of the Northern Ireland police complaints system. Belfast: Author.

79.

Prenzler

(2000). Civilian oversight of police: A test of capture theory. British Journal of Criminology, 40, 659–674.

80.

Reiner

(1991). Multiple realities, divided worlds: Chief constables' perspectives on the police complaints system. In Goldsmith

(Ed.), Complaints against the police: The trend to external review. Oxford: Clarendon.

81.

Rampart Independent Review Panel. (2000). Report of the Rampart Independent Review Panel. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners.

82.

Russell

(1976). Complaints against the police: A sociological view. Leicester: Milltak.

83.

Scarman

Lord.

(1986). Scarman report. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

84.

Smith

(Ed.) (2002). Crime in the professions. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

85.

Tarling

Dowds

(1997). Crime and punishment. In Jowell

(Eds.), British social attitudes. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

86.

United States Commission on Civil Rights. (1981). Who is guarding the guardians? A report on police practices. Washington, DC: Author.

87.

United States Commission on Civil Rights. (2000). Revisiting “Who is guarding the guardians?”. Washington, DC: Author.

88.

Walker

(2001). Police accountability: The role of citizen oversight. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

89.

Walker

Alpert

Kennedy

(2001). Early warning systems: Responding to the problem police officer. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

90.

Walker

Bumphus

(1992). The effectiveness of civilian review. American Journal of Police, 11, 1–26.

91.

Waters

Brown

K.,

(2000). Police complaints and the complainants' experience. British Journal of Criminology, 40, 617–638.

92.

Webb

(2002). Report on police corruption woe for Blair (2002, June 18). The Washington Times, p. A13.

93.

Weiner

(2002). Mexico begins to wade through morass of police corruption (2002. June 3). New York Times, p. 17.

94.

Wood

(1997). Royal Commission into the New South Wales police service: Final report. Sydney: Government of the State of NSW.