Police investigating the Police

[Calista241]

Currently it's this nebulous "internal affairs" division that investigates incidents and cops. They say they're a separate, independent department, but ultimately they all answer to the same person, usually a police chief or some politician.

I believe we need a separate agency, probably federal (but i'm not sure that'd fly in individual states), that investigates all police incidents that result in a fatality. And maybe even a separate court that reviews these cases.

This would accomplish two things. One it would reduce the "thin blue line" and hopefully police whitewashing of these incidents. And two, I believe that ultimately it will increase confidence of the citizenry in the police force.

I know several cops, and all of them say it's a very easy job to fired from. That being said, many citizens clearly do not have confidence in their police force to protect them or treat them fairly.

Comments?

[Logical]

1. I agree, every police shooting should have an independent investigation. nt

[JJChambers]

2. Most police shootings are already investigated by an outside agency.

In my area, the state police investigates the city cops, for example, whenever they're involved in a shooting. Every police shooting should also have a civilian review board participate in the investigation as well. Some departments do this but others do not. It should be mandatory.

[sendero]

3. I agree 100%..

.... the farce that "Internal Affairs" is some kind of independent body is ludicrous.