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Police Secrecy

 
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:24 pm    Post subject: Police Secrecy Reply with quote

Well, this is where the rubber meets the road. We are getting nearer to the problems that are preventing the Chandra Levy case from being solved. I put Police Secrecy into google, and this is one of the hits that I received. This article shows that there is a police problem with secrecy, and it may not be the best article to start with, but at least it is a start.

Right away something comes up that starts to make sense: "Bay Area Police Watch." I wonder if there is a Washington, D.C. Police Watch, a FBI Police Watch, and a Stanislaus County Police Watch. Some cities at least have Police Watches, so that is a start. Maybe eventually we can learn who the turtleman is and we will learn that a dna paternity test has been made. Time marches on.

(Fair Use.)

http://www.ellabakercenter.org/page.php?pageid=67&contentid=150

BAY AREA POLICEWATCH IN THE NEWS
Home • EBC's Programs • Bay Area PoliceWatch • BAPW Press Room • BAPW News Coverage • Police Secrecy Assailed


Police Secrecy Assailed

Demand for Names of Officers in Shooting

San Francisco Chronicle
May 13, 2004

By Charlie Goodyear

A policy that keeps secret the names of San Francisco police officers involved in shootings could be abolished after members of the city's Police Commission demanded more information in the case of a man killed by police last week.

The newly appointed commission asked San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong on Wednesday to report back next week when the names of the five officers who shot 29-year-old Cammerin Boyd can be made public, or with an explanation about why the names are being kept secret.

"To keep it from public scrutiny serves no public policy," said Commissioner Peter Keane, after listening to angry comments from Boyd's family and community activists. "I will be very unhappy if next week I don't get some real concrete reasons if the department decides not to make this information public."

Boyd, a double amputee who lost both legs during a 1993 California Highway Patrol chase, was fatally shot by San Francisco police on May 5 at a housing project in the Western Addition. Police said he attempted to kidnap a woman at gunpoint, then fired at officers as they pursued his car.

According to police, Boyd was shot when he ignored officers' commands and appeared to be reaching for a gun. Witnesses said he was attempting to surrender.

"I see his hands up in the air," his aunt, Neashelle Sheppard, told the commission. "I see him begging for his life. I am so hurt that I cannot describe in words the depth of my pain. I want justice for Cammerin. I want justice for Cammerin."

Earlier, Capt. Dennis O'Leary told the commissioners that it was the Police Commission of 1995 that approved a policy prohibiting the disclosure of the names of officers involved in shootings.

This commission, however, was ushered in by a voter-approved measure in November to increase public oversight of police discipline. Among the new commission's first actions was a vote last week to distance itself from the Police Department by moving its weekly meetings out of the Hall of Justice to City Hall, where it met Wednesday night.

O'Leary explained to the commission that officers from the department's homicide unit are the lead investigators in any officer-related shooting, although other agencies such as the district attorney's office are also brought into the probe.

Commissioners were told that typically, after an investigation that could last more than a year, they can expect to receive only a summary of the evidence in any officer-involved shooting, not the actual reports prepared by investigators.

"So what you're saying is, the Police Department investigates, the Police Department decides, and then we get the summary without the evidence?" Commissioner Joseph Veronese asked skeptically, sparking applause from the audience.

Critics of the department accused the police of habitually covering up misconduct in shooting cases and stonewalling investigations.

"There has not been a single police officer in San Francisco disciplined for shooting someone in at least the past 10 years," said activist Van Jones. He called the department "trigger happy" and said officers "shoot too much."

Several other commissioners joined in Keane's request for more information about Boyd's death.

"Let's look at how we can achieve some disclosure," said Commissioner Gayle Orr-Smith.

Outside the meeting, Fong said, "We're here to listen to what the commission has to say. We will be reporting back next week."

The department is consulting with the city attorney on a request for more information in Boyd's case from the American Civil Liberties Union, the chief said.

Asked about the angry criticism of her officers, Fong replied, "The officers are professional police officers. I do not believe that our officers have been trigger happy."<<<

benn
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There does not seem to be a direct road map from point A to point B, so there will probably be many side trips, detours, etc., but there is much to see along the way, and to learn, so that maybe after enough traveling we will know who the turtleman was and what the paternity dna test says.

http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/index.htm

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
Washington, D.C.:

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Washington's Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), created in 1980, was abolished in mid-1995. Opinions differ about why the board was not successful, with most agreeing that budgetary cuts and its requirement that it must investigate and hold an adjudicatory hearing for each complaint dooming the board to an insurmountable backlog and dissatisfaction for all. Even when the board was able to sustain cases, police administrative trial boards often overturned CCRB's findings.

The failure of the oversight system, including the CCRB and IAD, was apparent when the city was held liable for damages for police abuse in a case filed in 1991. In 1993, the U.S. District Court found that the MPD maintained a "patentlyinadequate system of investigation of excessive force complaints."20 Furthermore, the department showed a "deliberate indifference to the rights of persons who come in contact with District police officers."21 The court held the department and city responsible for allowing the CCRB to conduct poor, or no, investigations and not disciplining officers regardless of the CCRB's actions.

The CCRB would receive approximately 500 complaints a year, but it was only able to dispose of about one hundred. As the board's funding was cut, the head of the MPD police union Det. J.C. Stamps, said, "That's what they have the court system for; that's what they have internal affairs for," when asked whether independent review necessary.22

In October 1995, the City Council's judiciary committee held hearings on the need for civilian review and proposals for creating a new, less burdensome and less expensive mechanism similar to the one used in Minneapolis, Minnesota.23 Faced with the prospect of the police department's zero tolerance initiative without any mechanism for external review, an independent task force was created by city activists in early 1997, made up of twenty-five members, including representatives from nongovernmental groups, four retired MPD officers, and the former chairperson of the CCRB.24 The task force, called the Metropolitan Police and Criminal Justice Review Task Force, planned to review and evaluate the MPD and assist individuals who have complaints about police misconduct. Its creation highlighted the absence of any formal external review of the police force. In September 1997, the City Council discussed the possibility of creating some new external review mechanism, with police officials favoring the use of police officers as investigators and retired judges as the review panel. Civil rights groups opposed this proposal, advocating an independent review agency instead.25


20 Cox v. District of Columbia, 821 F. Supp. 1 (1993), aff'd 40 F.3d 475 (1994).

21 Ibid.

22 Michael A. Fletcher, "City's Police Review Panel Loses Funding in Budget," Washington Post, April 20, 1995.

23 See Minneapolis chapter.

24 Cheryl W. Thompson, "Panel to Review D.C. Police, NAACP Says," Washington Post, April 18, 1997.

25 In March 1997, an inspector general post to investigate allegations of corruption was created, but there were long delays in appointing anyone to fill the position.

© June 1998
Human Rights Watch

benn
This is a little helpful, but not exactly what we need to find.
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