New York, NY – The city police department should have an inspector general to examine its conduct, but the monitor would need independence and a broad mandate to be effective, a panel of criminal justice and legal experts said.
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The City Council is weighing a proposal to put the nation’s largest police force under the scrutiny of an inspector general. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there’s no need for one, but the idea has gained currency among civil liberties advocates and others troubled by some New York Police Department practices, including widespread spying on Muslims.
Proponents say an inspector general could build public confidence by looking at issues such as the surveillance and the department’s extensive use of a tactic known as stop and frisk — questioning and sometimes patting down people whose behavior is deemed suspicious but doesn’t necessarily meet the legal bar for an arrest.
“It is an important first step in bringing some measure of transparency and accountability to the police,” said Faiza Patel, a national security specialist at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.
Another agency hired by the same people it would monitor? So are we suppose to trust that this agency would be fair?
A better idea would be having judges that are “voted” in by the people that would go after these thugs and KGB’s.
With Quotas in place we need the burden of proof raised. Police or any agency with the power to impose fines should be held to the same standard as any civilian bringing a suit.
This was tried in 1966, when an independent Civilian Complaint Review Board was proposed; that is, one which would function independent and outside of the NYCPD. Unfortuately, the PBA spent thousands of dollars on an advertising campaign, showing a lady walking down an alley, and implying that if an independent review board came into being, that crime rates would skyrocket. It was a campaign of fear and intimidation by the PBA. Ultimately, the issue went to the voters, who rejected it. However, this time, 46 years later, such an idea would be approved by the voters, since the NYCPD has become a rogue police force. The only reason that the U.S. Justice Department does not have it under investigation, is because one hand washes the other; in other words, the Justice Dept. needs the NYCPD for intelligence information regarding terrorism.