Following the demonstrations and riots in Ferguson, MO, I did a review of the literature regarding what oversight boards are and can do.

1. Models for Oversight
Civilian control over police

2. Survey of the options
● Over 100 jurisdictions have boards
● At least 2 professional organizations
● Complaints in Ferguson must go through
city manager

3. Types of Oversight
● Ombudsman - Liaison for public
● Police Auditor - Reviews police
investigation
● Independent complaint body
● Mix of several

4. Ombudsman
● Role of “Facilitator”
● Interfaces with public and police
● Makes recommendations only
● What Ferguson currently has… sort of

5. Police Auditor
● Reviews police work
o Could oversee investigations
o Could review police conclusions
● Staffed by volunteers or professionals

6. Independent Complaint Body
● Receives complaints
● Conducts investigations
● Acts on conclusions
● Best oversight, but expensive
● Model for FBI investigation (sort of)

7. Hybrid Models
● Most include voluntary mediation
● Some put civilians in police dept.
● Mix volunteers, elected officials and
professional career investigators

8. Budget
Money can buy rights enforcement

9. Paid Staff costs money
● Professional investigators are paid
● Reducing police department usually not
an option
● Even elected officials want some pay

10. Budget allocation tradeoff
● Minimum mandatory budget included in
act may not reflect need
● Leaving it up to city will make funding
political and eventually gut the operation
when money is tight.

11. Independence
The measure of confidence

12. Personal Conflicts
● Family, financial and close personal
relationships cloud objectivity.
● Interest in positions often tied to personal
relationships
● Exactly what types of conflicts are a
problem defined by community

13. Police Investigation
● Partial police officers might not look very
hard at colleagues
● Even with review, key evidence may be
suppressed.
● Independent investigators are expensive.

14. Ongoing Political Will
● Political will is hot now
● Will it hold?
● What happens when people are more
concerned about budget?

15. Career Path
● Investigator is a step in a long career path
● Even independent investigators may have
history/future in law enforcement

16. Authority
The teeth that the board has

17. Compel Witnesses
● Important for investigations
● Without this, must “ask nicely”

18. Officer Discipline
● Beyond “recommendation”
● The board’s ability to affect raises and
promotions
● Causes officers to take board decisions
seriously

19. Filing charges
● Rare authority
● Enables investigators to act immediately
● Bypasses grand jury process

20. Organizational Mandate
● Legislation
o Fast and relatively easy
o Subject to shifting will
● Ballot Initiative
o Hard to accomplish
o Resistant to transient political will

21. Other Issues & Challenges

22. Qualification of Board
● Should board have specific skills?
o Attended police academy
o Maintain certification with oversight board
organization
o Civil Rights Lawyers
● May raise conflict issues

23. Access to Process
● Complicated forms are obstacle to
reporting
● Access to forms (hours, location) are
obstacle to reporting
● Knowledge of how to file can be hard to
find

24. Claim Preclusion
● If a board judges has authority
o All civil rights cases must go through process
o Separate / independent investigation limited

25. References
Shielded from Justice: New York: Civilian Complaint Review Board
cpp_policeoversight_report.pdf
Civilian Oversight Survey.pdf
Police Assessment Resource Center
"Legislative Oversight of Police: Lessons Learned from an Investigation" by Mary M. Cheh
Police Oversight in the United States Final 108.doc - 10-19 altus conf paper.pdf
NACOLE » The National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement
Civilian Complaint Review Board
Citizen Review of Police : Approaches and Implementation ((Issues and Practices) NCJ184430) -
184430.pdf
Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual | American Civil Liberties Union
Agency Profile-Kansas City-MO » NACOLE
NLG: Northeasternreport12-05.pdf
SF Office of Citizen Complaints - Berkeley Law podcast