POLICE REFORM
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Tracking Police Misconduct
Tracking Police Misconduct Action Guide explains why it is crucial to have a police disclosure list, and details the most important issues to consider when creating one. To produce this guide, the IIP interviewed high-ranking prosecutors throughout the country. By following these recommendations, prosecutors can fulfill their ethical duties and hold the police accountable, while also protecting the due process rights of police officers.
PUBLICATION
Prosecutors and Officer-Involved Fatalities
Roy L. Austin, Jr., Vice President for Civil Rights and Deputy General Counsel, Meta
Valerie Bell, Mother of Sean Bell
John J. Choi, County Attorney, Ramsey County, MN
J. Scott Thomson, Chief of Police, Camden County, NJ
Allison Goldberg, Fmr. Policy Advisor, IIP
Prosecutors and Officer-Involved Fatalities uplifts the interconnected stories of three people directly impacted by officer-involved fatalities: Valerie Bell, County Attorney John Choi and Roy L. Austin, Jr.
TOOLKIT
The Prosecutor’s Role in Addressing Officer-Involved Fatalities
The IIP's Toolkit on Officer-Involved Fatalities and Critical Incidents addresses action that prosecutors can take, and communities can advocate for in the event of a critical incident. The Toolkit was informed by a year-long Working Group led by those who lost loved ones to police violence; prosecutors; and law enforcement experts. The Toolkit identifies ways to harness the power of the prosecutor to prevent use-of-force, and to provide a path to accountability for unjustified force.
PANEL
Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops Documentary
In partnership with the Institute for Justice and Opportunity and the Punishment to Public Health Initiative, this panel discussion focused on the Emmy Award-Winning HBO documentary Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops and the issues it highlights.
Joe Smarro, Founder & CEO, SolutionPoint+
Shawanna Vaughn, Founder, Silent Cry Inc.
Jeff Coots, Director, From Punishment to Public Health Initiative
TOOLKIT
PUBLICATION
PANEL
Forum on Police Use of Force
A forum on police use of force, policy changes, and the future of accountability.
Valerie Bell, Mother of Sean Bell
Jacquelyn Carter, President, Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops
Valerie Castile, Mother of Philando Castile
John Choi, County Attorney, Ramsey County, MN
Victoria Davis, Sister of Delrawn Small
Stephanie Morales, Commonwealth Attorney, Portsmouth, VA
Jonathan Parham, Former Police Chief, Linden, NJ
Lucy Lang, Fmr. Director, IIP
TOOLKIT
PUBLICATION
PANEL
Prosecutors, Brady & Police Disclosure Lists
This panel focused on how a prosecutor's office can work with their police department in the creation and maintenance of police disclosure lists.
Alissa Heydari, Deputy Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution
Harold Medina, Chief of Police, Albuquerque Police Department
Ross Miller, Assistant Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice
Raúl Torrez, District Attorney, Bernalillo County, NM
Grounding Police Accountability in Community Engagement
This paper focuses on a critical theme that all our papers in this series address in some capacity: the importance of engaging communities in police oversight and accountability work. We look at examples of effective community engagement approaches. We also describe an experiential exercise in which our network participated during our June 2023 convening to model the roundtable series used in Chicago as part of its historic consent decree process. Finally, we offer top considerations for attorneys general–or any leader–in engaging community members in police accountability work.
Prosecuting Police Misconduct
This paper focuses specifically on the criminal prosecution of individual officers, identifying the tools and strategies that attorneys general should consider when investigating and prosecuting incidents of police use of force.
Creating and Enforcing Police Accountability Mechanisms
In this paper, we explore remedies available to attorneys general in response to pattern or practice investigations. This paper also addresses the strengths, weaknesses, and evidence supporting each option available to state attorneys general, and includes examples of these various approaches. We also explore one state attorney general’s unique ability to address systemic police misconduct through police department supersession.
Pattern or Practice Investigations
This paper focuses on pattern or practice investigations into police departments. First, we offer our top takeaways and suggestions for attorneys general seeking to effectively pursue police oversight and accountability. Next, because state attorney general responsibilities and authorities can vary across jurisdiction, this paper also explores the legal and practical frameworks governing police oversight in the United States, including the role of federal civil rights law, the assertion of common law parens patriae standing at the state level, and different models of state statutory authorization. It also provides a step-bystep explanation of how such investigations typically unfold as well as the impact of pattern or practice investigations.
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