At May’s Thursday with the League, “Holding Police Accountable for Civil Rights Abuses,” the Policing Practices Subcommittee hosted Professor Joanna Schwartz of UCLA Law School, author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, and LWVC’s Program Director of Criminal Justice, Ashley Raveche. The morning was full of information about the obstacles to suing for accountability and compensation when people’s constitutional rights are violated by police and governments. It was also, however, an eye-opening discussion of the many ways that local police reform can be achieved. Here are some of Schwartz’s many examples.
Most police departments don’t analyze the lawsuits brought against them. Usually, such lawsuits are handled by the city attorney, who defends the police officer and the city, using city funds, although not funds earmarked for policing budgets. Information emerging from this litigation is rarely fed back to the police department. Most officers, supervisors, and heads of police departments are not aware of what emerges from these lawsuits. However, these suits reveal trends in civil liberties cases and highlight patterns among the officers involved. They can be mined for training purposes to avoid future lawsuits, saving money. The locality’s city council can require the police department to collect and analyze the information from these lawsuits for such purposes.
City councils can be a huge focus for advocacy, according to Schwartz. The city council sets the budget for the police department and assesses from within the budget where attorneys’ fees and settlements of judgments will be taken. They also negotiate union agreements.
Professor Schwartz was asked what we can do to change the lack of accountability for police abuse. First, she said, we must educate ourselves on how qualified immunity and other doctrines, laws, and policies affect accountability for misconduct. We need to learn the facts to dispel the myths that are guiding the debate on police accountability today. Then, action at both the local and state legislative levels is critical. Find officers who also are willing to stand up for accountability. Many officers support accountability: After all, bad officers make good ones look bad.
LWVC’s Raveche urged us to address our complaints to mayors and city councils—who most often are elected officials. Have conversations outside the context of high-anxiety incidents and times. Dispassionate discussion, with full facts in hand, will produce decisions that last far longer than those made in a heated or urgent context. Such conversations should address what we want our communities to look like and how we want our systems of accountability to function. What roles do we want law enforcement to play? Mayors? Council members? Those who are responsible for union agreements, budgets, and work management?
Professor Schwartz concluded her remarks by calling for a restoration of trust in policing. Trust, in turn, requires meaningful accountability. In other words, peace officers are not above the law.
For those who missed the presentations, click here to view on YouTube.
—Kris Ockershauser, Chair, Policing Practices Subcommittee
