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165
relationship among parities can take hold early in the reform process and facilitate
the eventual implementation of reforms.
When the California AG’s Office began investigating the Riverside Police
Department, then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s elected political career already
spanned a quarter of a century. During his tenure in Sacramento, particularly as
President pro Tempore of the California Senate,78 and as a candidate for Attorney
General, Lockyer established close personal and political relationships with law
enforcement and local leaders throughout the state. These relationships improved
the atmosphere in which the investigation, negotiation and implementation
materialized. He had a particularly good relationship with public safety unions and
leaders in the Inland Empire.
As a result, as the investigation unfolded, the AG’s Office was able to lay the
groundwork for a partnership with the City of Riverside and the RPD. As a result of
a mutually respectful relationship, the AG’s Office was able to obtain a more holistic
understanding of the problems in the RPD, the local political dynamics, and the
threats to and opportunities for reform. The AG’s Office was able to reach out to
local contacts that provided helpful intelligence. The AG’s Office avoided local
political hazards and crafted its strategy to build trust and credibility with the City,
thus improving the relationship among the parties and increasing the likelihood of
establishing long-lasting reforms.
78 The leader of the California Senate is the President pro Tempore, who is elected by the Members of
the Senate. The President pro Tempore directs the work of the Senate and serves as an influential
statewide political leader for his or her political party.
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 177 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 165 relationship among parities can take hold early in the reform process and facilitate the eventual implementation of reforms. When the California AG’s Office began investigating the Riverside Police Department, then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s elected political career already spanned a quarter of a century. During his tenure in Sacramento, particularly as President pro Tempore of the California Senate,78 and as a candidate for Attorney General, Lockyer established close personal and political relationships with law enforcement and local leaders throughout the state. These relationships improved the atmosphere in which the investigation, negotiation and implementation materialized. He had a particularly good relationship with public safety unions and leaders in the Inland Empire. As a result, as the investigation unfolded, the AG’s Office was able to lay the groundwork for a partnership with the City of Riverside and the RPD. As a result of a mutually respectful relationship, the AG’s Office was able to obtain a more holistic understanding of the problems in the RPD, the local political dynamics, and the threats to and opportunities for reform. The AG’s Office was able to reach out to local contacts that provided helpful intelligence. The AG’s Office avoided local political hazards and crafted its strategy to build trust and credibility with the City, thus improving the relationship among the parties and increasing the likelihood of establishing long-lasting reforms. 78 The leader of the California Senate is the President pro Tempore, who is elected by the Members of the Senate. The President pro Tempore directs the work of the Senate and serves as an influential statewide political leader for his or her political party. |
