"no American police department really has an excuse for engaging in practices that violate civil rights."

The New York Times

July 27, 2013

Some Chiefs Chafing as Justice Department Keeps Closer Eye on Policing

There are at least two sides to ever story, and this NY Times article attempts to report them all.

“The state of American policing is not where it should be,” Mr. Bratton said,  who as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 2002 to 2009. But, he continued, “there is a tension, and it is felt by police chiefs, between the constitutional policing that we’re obligated to provide to operate within the law and the obligation to provide public safety in terms of controlling crime and disorder.”

The Times story also takes police department nationwide for what the  the Justice Department calls a pattern of the use of excessive force—and civil rights violations. 

"Civil rights violations by police departments have been subject to investigation by the federal government since 1994, when Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. But federal intervention has become far more common and much broader in scope under the Obama administration, a development proudly highlighted on the Justice Department’s Web site." 

“In the year 2013, no police department should be in a position where it can be sued by the Justice Department.  The past records indicate what problems they need to be aware of and what to do about such problems if they have them.” said Dr. Walker, of the University of Nebraska, so many federal investigations have now been conducted that no American police department really has an excuse for engaging in practices that violate civil rights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/us/some-chiefs-chafing-as-justice-department-keeps-closer-eye-on-policing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

There is this 24 page report by TheRSA which I happened upon and that seems to address some of the concerns raised by the recent NYTimes story.

 "The report concludes that in order to improve community relations it would be helpful if police had a good understanding of the ways in which their minds work, and how they impact on what they do.

It recommends that there should be more institutional support for changing police culture – including integrating a package into police training regarding self-development, improving professional performance and taking more control over one’s thinking and behaviour."

http://www.thersa.org/action-research-centre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/social-brain/reports/reflexive-coppers

"When discussing the influence of organisational culture, accountability and hierarchy, the police highlighted the militaristic metaphor: closed, bureaucratic,controlling and necessarily engendering ear in the public. On the other hand, when thinking about pattern so attention, communication, and gut feelings, the metaphor was more like a form of social work: open, personal, trust-based, and enjoying working with the public rather than against them."