There is an interesting study out that a relatively small number of officers are responsible for over half of police abuse claims. We have seen similar results in studies of malpractice cases of doctors. Yet, this small group of officers not only tarnish the reputations of all officers but cost massive amounts of money. Marketplace reports that Chicago paid out more than half a billion dollars over 10 years in police misconduct cases. This is a city that is facing junk bond status and the threat of insolvency.
Law professor Craig Futterman, who runs the University of Chicago’s Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, has done some interesting work in this area. His study of the Chicago Police Department found the same officers fueling these costs. It suggests that a better job of self-policing could result in substantial savings for police departments and more importantly greater protection for citizens.
UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz has found similar results. She notes however that most cities still resist keeping records that would help identify such officers and track patterns. This would seem to offer obvious areas of reform for departments. We have certainly seen anecdotally that officers involved in controversies often seem to have checkered histories of prior lawsuits or serious complaints. The problem is the political will to implement the academic findings.
UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz:
For one study, Schwartz asked 140 law-enforcement agencies — including 70 of the biggest ones — for information about police-misconduct cases. A common answer: We don’t know.
So, she asked the law departments, everybody. Which didn’t always help.
“Eighteen of the largest cities and counties,” she says, “and these are cities that include San Diego, New Orleans— counties like Harris County, Baltimore County— they reported that they had no records in any government agency or office reflecting how much they spent in lawsuits involving the police.”
One might think they would want to know: What do we even get sued for?
“You would think,” says Schwartz. “And in other kinds of industries— certainly in medicine— there are risk managers who are tasked with doing that very thing.”
She thinks if settlements came out of the police budget — instead of the general fund — departments might be more cost-sensitive.
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And what the police can’t cover should come from the PBAs who support some of these abusive cops.
alan tiger,
“the only good thing about this situation was that the individual cops’ personnel files (which contained histories of prior claims against them) were exempt from disclosure.”
What am I missing? Why is this a “good thing?”
There are many systemic problems inherent regarding this issue, but in the end it boils down to a lack of accountability. In my opinion, this issue is illustrative of public sector vs. private sector employment. Or more accurately, Union vs. Non-Union employment.
As others here have pointed out, union contracts almost universally protect underperforming workers. Perhaps inadvertently, but that truth remains. Whether the under-performers be police officers, teachers, or government bureaucrats. Management’s hands are tied.
In the public sector, there is no real incentive to correct the issue and hold workers accountable because the financial costs of waste, fraud, abuse, and inefficiency are simply passed on to the taxpayer. In an ironical twist, it is the taxpayers at large who are being held accountable.
In the private sector (my company for example), the incentive to promptly address issues is real because the financial consequences are immediate and we have no taxing authority to compensate for poor performance. Should an employee’s actions be found harmful to the company, they are counseled. If the behavior is not immediately corrected, their employment is terminated.
At which point, they seek employment in the public sector… and well… you know the rest…
The Police Are Still Out of Control
I should know.
By FRANK SERPICO
October 23, 2014
Only a few years ago, a cop who was in the same 81st Precinct I started in, Adrian Schoolcraft, was actually taken to a psych ward and handcuffed to a gurney for six days after he tried to complain about corruption – they wanted him to keep to a quota of summonses, and he wasn’t complying. No one would have believed him except he hid a tape recorder in his room, and recorded them making their demands. Now he’s like me, an outcast.
Every time I speak out on topics of police corruption and brutality, there are inevitably critics who say that I am out of touch and that I am old enough to be the grandfather of many of the cops who are currently on the force. But I’ve kept up the struggle, working with lamp lighters to provide them with encouragement and guidance; serving as an expert witness to describe the tactics that police bureaucracies use to wear them down psychologically; testifying in support of independent boards; developing educational guidance to young minority citizens on how to respond to police officers; working with the American Civil Liberties Union to expose the abuses of stun-gun technology in prisons; and lecturing in more high schools, colleges and reform schools than I can remember. A little over a decade ago, when I was a presenter at the Top Cops Award event hosted by TV host John Walsh, several police officers came up to me, hugged me and then whispered in my ear, “I gotta talk to you.”
The sum total of all that experience can be encapsulated in a few simple rules for the future:
1. Strengthen the selection process and psychological screening process for police recruits. Police departments are simply a microcosm of the greater society. If your screening standards encourage corrupt and forceful tendencies, you will end up with a larger concentration of these types of individuals;
2. Provide ongoing, examples-based training and simulations. Not only telling but showing police officers how they are expected to behave and react is critical;
3. Require community involvement from police officers so they know the districts and the individuals they are policing. This will encourage empathy and understanding;
4. Enforce the laws against everyone, including police officers. When police officers do wrong, use those individuals as examples of what not to do – so that others know that this behavior will not be tolerated. And tell the police unions and detective endowment associations they need to keep their noses out of the justice system;
5. Support the good guys. Honest cops who tell the truth and behave in exemplary fashion should be honored, promoted and held up as strong positive examples of what it means to be a cop;
6. Last but not least, police cannot police themselves. Develop permanent, independent boards to review incidents of police corruption and brutality—and then fund them well and support them publicly. Only this can change a culture that has existed since the beginnings of the modern police department.
There are glimmers of hope that some of this is starting to happen, even in New York under its new mayor, Bill DeBlasio. Earlier this month DeBlasio’s commissioner, Bill Bratton—who’d previously served a term as commissioner in New York as well as police chief in Los Angeles—made a crowd of police brass squirm in discomfort when he showed a hideous video montage of police officers mistreating members of the public and said he would “aggressively seek to get those out of the department who should not be here — the brutal, the corrupt, the racist, the incompetent.” I found that very impressive. Let’s see if he follows through.
And legislators are starting to act—and perhaps to free themselves of the political power of police. In Wisconsin, after being contacted by Mike Bell — a retired Air Force officer who flew in three wars and whose son was shot to death by police after being pulled over for a DUI – I’d like to believe I helped in a successful campaign to push through the nation’s first law setting up outside review panels in cases of deaths in police custody. A New Jersey legislator has now expressed interest in pushing through a similar law.
Like the Knapp Commission in its time, they are just a start. But they are something.
Frank Serpico is a former New York City police detective.
Nobody give up anything. It has to be taken away. You have to take the excesses, (Sharpton), with the benefits. As much as some ‘defenders of the down trodden’ appear as extremists, this is where change happens. The perpetrators, the few cops that make all cops look bad, do not want their profile raised. It doesn’t matter if it is Sharpton, Holder, or JC himself doing the squeaking, the squeaking will get the grease.
So among the many readers of this blog, are there any city managers? Police union officials?, City councilmen?
What say you? Clean up your act or keep your life comfortable living off the corruption your inaction causes?
Reblogged this on Alina's Blog.
I am sure the same prosecutors are guilty of misconduct as well.
If you get rid of the bad police you are taking food out of the mouths of attorneys who need the work.
the article is on point.
for some eight or ten years in the ’80s, my wall street firm represented the new york city housing authority for all tort claims made against it. we handled about 300 – 400 cases each year, almost all of which were slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls, elevator accidents, and the occasional motor vehicle case.
then there were the claims of police abuse and brutality. this was in the days before giuliani consolidated the new york police department, the transit authority police department, and the housing authority police department into one entity. we’d get a dozen or so cases each year involving housing cops, leading to a total of about 100 cases. the same names kept coming up again and again, all the time. perhaps 60 – 70 of the cases involved the same six or eight cops.
defending these cases was a real pain in the ass. first (and foremost) was the oldest and truest courthouse adage of all: “nobody lies like a cop!” second was the fact that, whenever an accused cop came to our offices for an interview, the cop would always be accompanied by a pba lawyer, who would always do his best to obstruct and corrode our processes. eventually, we composed a standard letter, addressed to the cop with a cc to the pba, advising him that failure to cooperate with the legal defense team would be grounds for the insurance carrier to deny coverage. when the insurance carrier who retained our firm actually did deny coverage to one obstreperous defendant, word quickly got around and the rest fell into line quickly.
the only good thing about this situation was that the individual cops’ personnel files (which contained histories of prior claims against them) were exempt from disclosure.
All these knee-jerk, cliche fixes won’t work, especially, the “fire the police chief and the department will change” idea. The issue is the collective bargaining agreement’s protection of the rights of the officers and the convoluted due process rules that make firing an officer a very, very difficult task. Unless the cop broke the law, he can’t be held accountable. The voters don’t negotiate the union agreement. Neither does the police chief. It’s the elected politician(s) who need the support, money and volunteer labor for the next election who negotiate the police union contract. The politicians buy the votes of the police force by providing them (effectively) guaranteed employment for life.
In a city as corrupt as Chicago (possibly more corrupt than the Illinois government), this is the norm.
Ross
I understand the differentiation between areas. However, judges are sometimes elected. Politicians appoint judges. Other elements of government are elected. The first move is backing representatives that will do something about it. Statistics illustrate that less than half of all potential voters participate in these elections. Those that do are informed and typically come from the middle, upper middle, and upper classes. They have skin in the game.
In the poorer levels of our society, citizens with the right to vote, the ability to change things are typically complacent, disorganized, and have thrown in the towel. The bottom end has to help itself. Only so much can happen coming from politicians starting out, trying to build a base. The change comes from within.
“issac
Police are employed by the community. The community is responsible and must govern and control the police. ”
Police unions, supporters and officers have repeatedly made it clear they don’t believe it. Comply. That’s the only word they have in their lexicon for every encounter with the public (which they are not part of apparently).
Comply with every request instantly an officer makes or you might get hurt physically.
Comply with supporting police unquestioningly or you’ll get hurt in the public eye when you are called anti-police and accused of wanting officers dead.
Unfortunately the small group is protected by the rest of them. As a result, the entire force or at a substantial part thereof is responsible as well as the supervisors who set both tone and policy. If a few police chiefs and others at that level lost their jobs and pensions, things would change.
There is a difference between “voter vs. constitutional” issues. Using a sports metaphor, voter issues must operate within the boundaries of the football field.
For example, in the unlikely scenario 90% of voters voted to repeal womens’ rights or reinstate slavery, it’s impossible to do because that legislation is “out of bounds” – even if the voters want it.
Police corruption issues are primarily a constitutional issue, not a voter issue. Courts of law (Judicial Branch) are the best way to solve these problems longterm.
Approximately 46 states have what is known as POST Certification boards on a state level. The Board issues police certificates so that they can be employed to carry the gun and badge for any county or municipality in the state. The Board can revoke or suspend a POST Certificate. There is a national private agency which has a list of officers with revoked certificates. The federal government does not have a national listing. This is needed. Because a bad cop can go from Al Sharptongues neighborhood police force in NYC all the way out to Ferguson and get hired. Missouri is a state which has a POST Board or agency statewide. New York is not. I think the states without boards are CA, NY, MA, and RI. I may be wrong.
Bad cops stick together. There is a claim and some evidence that the police in Saint Louis County pistol whipped the suspect in the cop shooting case. He has bruises on his face in the police photo. The cops who interviewed him should all be given lie detector tests under oath. There was a nurse who looked at the suspect and she needs to be interviewed on video and given a lie detector test before and after the interview. The FBI should open an investigation of both the shooting of the cops and the arrest of this suspect. Holder? Where are you? Holder????
Police are employed by the community. The community is responsible and must govern and control the police. If the community does not control the police then the citizens must elect new representatives. The reason the police get away with this stuff is because the alternative, as seen by the rich and middle class, is not acceptable. The rich and middle class do not want the police being hamstrung by the poor where the criminal element, or those perceived to be the criminal element, reside. Tough on crime, tough on drugs, tough on whatever has its benefits at one end and its negative results at the other. Doctors, lawyers, professors, etc are rarely shot while arguing a traffic stop through the window of their Benz. Eventually with the poor growing in numbers if they get off of their behinds and vote, there will be change.
Where’s the study on Lawyers?
Weren’t “Sovereign Immunity” protections only designed for constitutional and legal activities made in good faith? Why should taxpayers pay for any of it?
” Chicago paid out more than half a billion dollars over 10 years in police misconduct cases”
This won’t be addressed until the Police force itself pays these claims out of their budget.
As it stands now, “Chicago” (i.e., taxpayers) pay for this, so why should the Police care?
No consequences, no change.