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9
explanations of police misconduct as isolated incidents by a small number of
personnel. Previous attempts at police reform have placed too much emphasis on
individuals behaving badly, rather than on the systemic problems of the police
organization (4).
Scholars have observed that poor behavior on the part of law enforcement
reflects institutional failures. For example, Barbara Armacost argues that police
misconduct is not the result of “factual and moral judgments made by officers
functioning merely as individuals,” but rather the result of “a distinctive and
influential organizational culture” (2004, 455). Accordingly, any successful reform
effort must address the rules, policies, norms and culture of the police agency that
often create an atmosphere where misconduct is possible. Indeed, research suggests
that police misconduct is often driven by the ethos of the police organization (456).
Thus, attempts at police reform should move beyond the “rotten apples” and target
the “rotten barrels” (457-459).
One promising method of instilling the value of these best practices and thus
enhancing police accountability is the use of institutional reform litigation—the
direct governmental intervention in the reform of a police agency. Walker has called
this innovative approach “the new paradigm of police accountability . . . a significant
advance in the long effort to achieve higher standards of police accountability”
(Walker 2003, 3). Livingston views the new approach as representing “a new
remedial tool . . . that may prove to have an extremely important impact on the
operation of police departments” (1999, 817-822). She adds that the strategy not
Object Description
| Title | Policing accountability: an empirical investigation of state-sponsored police reform in Riverside, California |
| Author | Gomez, Jose Adolfo |
| Author email | jagclash@yahoo.com; jgomez@treasurer.ca.gov |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Political Science |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-01 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Restricted until 13 Oct. 2010. |
| Date published | 2010-10-13 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Renteln, Alison Dundes |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Newland, Chester A. Wong, Janelle S. |
| Abstract | The police have the ability to detain, arrest, and use force when necessary. Police accountability is thus of paramount concern to the public. Numerous examples of police misconduct, including cases of excessive force, brutality, and corruption, appear regularly via the news media. These incidents often evidence systemic organizational problems in law enforcement agencies. Scholars have observed that attempts at police reform have placed too much emphasis on individuals behaving badly, rather than on the systemic problems of the police department.; Beginning in the second half of the 1990s, federal and state Attorneys General began employing institutional reform litigation, in the form of consent decrees, to reform law enforcement agencies and enhance police accountability. The consent decrees were crafted to address systemic organizational dysfunction in local police departments. The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) conducted most of these reform interventions. However, a notable exception was the settlement agreement between the Attorney General of the State of California and the City of Riverside, California.; There has been little research on the efficacy of these efforts to rehabilitate law enforcement agencies. This analysis is a case study of the effectiveness of the institutional reform intervention by the California Attorney General into the Riverside Police Department (RPD). The detailed examination revealed that the intervention produced constructive changes in the way the RPD conducts its business. The RPD became more professional, effective, transparent and accountable as it implemented the provisions of the consent decree, demonstrating that institutional reform litigation can result in meaningful police reform. The shadow of the law was ever present, encouraging an ethos of cooperation and exerting pressure for meaningful organizational change. The Riverside experience suggests that a facilitative oversight style produces constructive collaboration between the parties, improving the likelihood of durable police reform. Moreover, consent decrees to correct systemic police misconduct should not be the exclusive purview of the USDOJ. State Attorneys General can effectively initiate police reform and in some cases state intervention is a more appropriate alternative. |
| Keyword | institutional reform; police reform; police accountability; state attorney's general; police misconduct; organizational change; consent decrees |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Riverside |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Coverage date | 1993/2008 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1664 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Gomez, Jose Adolfo |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Gomez-2358 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume29/etd-Gomez-2358.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 21 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 9 explanations of police misconduct as isolated incidents by a small number of personnel. Previous attempts at police reform have placed too much emphasis on individuals behaving badly, rather than on the systemic problems of the police organization (4). Scholars have observed that poor behavior on the part of law enforcement reflects institutional failures. For example, Barbara Armacost argues that police misconduct is not the result of “factual and moral judgments made by officers functioning merely as individuals,” but rather the result of “a distinctive and influential organizational culture” (2004, 455). Accordingly, any successful reform effort must address the rules, policies, norms and culture of the police agency that often create an atmosphere where misconduct is possible. Indeed, research suggests that police misconduct is often driven by the ethos of the police organization (456). Thus, attempts at police reform should move beyond the “rotten apples” and target the “rotten barrels” (457-459). One promising method of instilling the value of these best practices and thus enhancing police accountability is the use of institutional reform litigation—the direct governmental intervention in the reform of a police agency. Walker has called this innovative approach “the new paradigm of police accountability . . . a significant advance in the long effort to achieve higher standards of police accountability” (Walker 2003, 3). Livingston views the new approach as representing “a new remedial tool . . . that may prove to have an extremely important impact on the operation of police departments” (1999, 817-822). She adds that the strategy not |
