Oversight In Law Enforcement

Law enforcement use of deadly and excessive force continues to create distrust among communities of color, while civilian oversight agencies aim to build community trust and confidence through external oversight. Historically, communities of colors have complained of excessive force or racism, which is “often the motivating factor behind the formation of civilian oversight boards” (Snow, 1992). Furthermore, current national events in which officer’s use deadly force has stimulated further interest in civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies. Citizens want their concerns addressed and civilian oversight agencies have the solution to address those concerns by effectively “investigating, reviewing, auditing, and analyzing individual cases or patterns of police misconduct” (Buchner, 2014). Therefore, to combat police misconduct, civilian oversight agencies have to effectively advocate for greater accountability mechanisms through data transparency and civic engagement.
Civilian oversight agencies can review law enforcement agency’s internal mechanisms to address issues of accountability. Critical incidents of excessive or deadly force causes citizens to lose trust in law enforcement review systems, procedures, and policies when law enforcement agencies do not hold officers …show more content…
However, those mechanisms must address the lack of data available to citizens. When those citizens can easily access policies, procedures, allegations, and findings, it will lead to greater accountability and transparency even when law enforcement agencies do not hold officers accountable, the civilian oversight agency will address those failures. Nevertheless, by being proactive and forthright with how these mechanisms can be implemented civilian oversight agencies can begin to repair the distrust between communities of color and law