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120
Managers are not only evaluated on how they meet their unit’s objectives, but also
on how their staff performs.
MAP meetings are open to everyone, including elected officials, the public,
and the media (Brann 2006, 12, 16). This openness allows for greater accountability
and provides an opportunity for greater communication between the police and the
community. The community is involved in setting the agenda for the police
department, and thus are co-producers of public safety, a key component of
community policing.
Audio Recorders
The judgment stipulated that every police officer, detective, and sergeant
assigned to the Field Operations Division of the RPD was required to carry an audio
recorder and record all public contacts. The policy developed by the RPD and
approved by the Attorney General allowed the City and consultant to review the
recordings without an officer’s prior knowledge. The RPD’s audio recording policy
stated “recordings provide an accurate, unbiased audio record, which may be useful
for investigation of complaints and lawsuits, evaluation of an employee’s
performance, as a training aid and as evidence for court purposes” (RPD Policy
4.60). The RPD purchased audio recorders for all officers assigned to the Field
Operations Division and the recorders are now fully deployed in the field.
The consultant found that some officers ignored the policy’s provisions early
on, necessitating greater monitoring. The department reprimanded officers who
failed to follow the policy. As officers grew accustomed to using the recorders, they
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 132 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 120 Managers are not only evaluated on how they meet their unit’s objectives, but also on how their staff performs. MAP meetings are open to everyone, including elected officials, the public, and the media (Brann 2006, 12, 16). This openness allows for greater accountability and provides an opportunity for greater communication between the police and the community. The community is involved in setting the agenda for the police department, and thus are co-producers of public safety, a key component of community policing. Audio Recorders The judgment stipulated that every police officer, detective, and sergeant assigned to the Field Operations Division of the RPD was required to carry an audio recorder and record all public contacts. The policy developed by the RPD and approved by the Attorney General allowed the City and consultant to review the recordings without an officer’s prior knowledge. The RPD’s audio recording policy stated “recordings provide an accurate, unbiased audio record, which may be useful for investigation of complaints and lawsuits, evaluation of an employee’s performance, as a training aid and as evidence for court purposes” (RPD Policy 4.60). The RPD purchased audio recorders for all officers assigned to the Field Operations Division and the recorders are now fully deployed in the field. The consultant found that some officers ignored the policy’s provisions early on, necessitating greater monitoring. The department reprimanded officers who failed to follow the policy. As officers grew accustomed to using the recorders, they |
