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Why Philadelphia police need reforms in wake of shootings
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Why Philadelphia police need reforms in wake of shootings
While the Justice Department probe into 394 shootings since 2007 was critical of the
training officers receive, it did not find evidence of systemic racial bias.
By Harry Bruinius, Staff writer MARCH 23, 2015
NEW YORK — Philadelphia police officers need better training in the use of force in the wake of nearly 400 shootings since 2007, a new Justice Department report found. Poor training, combined with a less-than-transparent review process of police shootings, has contributed to an "undercurrent of significant strife" between officers and the communities they serve, federal investigators found.
The federal probe of the Philadelphia Police Department comes as the nation’s municipal police forces continue to draw scrutiny across the country after a year of high-profile fatal shootings of unarmed men.
But unlike the Justice Department’s investigations into communities like Ferguson, Mo.; Cleveland; New Orleans; or over a dozen other cities, the Philadelphia probe came at the request of Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who has been head of the nation’s fourth-largest police force since 2008. After a spike of four straight days of police shootings in 2013, Philly’s top cop asked the federal government to investigate the department’s methods of policing.
Instead of federal prosecutors, the investigation was conducted by the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), an office that works with law-enforcement agencies, assessing their methods and their relationships with communities.
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While the Justice Department probe into 394 shootings since 2007 was critical of the
training officers receive, it did not find evidence of systemic racial bias.
By Harry Bruinius, Staff writer MARCH 23, 2015
NEW YORK — Philadelphia police officers need better training in the use of force in the wake of nearly 400 shootings since 2007, a new Justice Department report found. Poor training, combined with a less-than-transparent review process of police shootings, has contributed to an "undercurrent of significant strife" between officers and the communities they serve, federal investigators found.
The federal probe of the Philadelphia Police Department comes as the nation’s municipal police forces continue to draw scrutiny across the country after a year of high-profile fatal shootings of unarmed men.
But unlike the Justice Department’s investigations into communities like Ferguson, Mo.; Cleveland; New Orleans; or over a dozen other cities, the Philadelphia probe came at the request of Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who has been head of the nation’s fourth-largest police force since 2008. After a spike of four straight days of police shootings in 2013, Philly’s top cop asked the federal government to investigate the department’s methods of policing.
Instead of federal prosecutors, the investigation was conducted by the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), an office that works with law-enforcement agencies, assessing their methods and their relationships with communities.
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Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0323/Why-Philadelphia-police-need-reforms-in-wake-of-shootings
