Citizen Oversight

Name: Tanelle Peppers

College: American Public University

Course: CMRJ 500

Date:

Citizen Oversight

Introduction

Citizen oversight started, in the 70s, to oversee police conduct and work. Perino (2006) defines citizen oversight as the procedure through which citizens review the conduct of police officers. The citizen oversight initiative started due to failure or perception by public of the police department lenience in dealing with alleged police misconduct. It is an attempt to bring external control and oversight to the police force.

The fall of communism and rise of democracy played a key role in development of citizen oversight committees. Democracy recognizes the importance of the rule of law, equality of all community members, the right of citizens in running of the government, representation of citizens in government functions, and the role of citizens in limiting the powers and authority of the government (Buren, 2007).

Discussion

The Role of Citizen Oversight

According to Perino the main obligation of the citizen oversight is to change the manner in which police departments handle alleged complaints from the public. The responsibility of handling police misconduct was first the sole responsibility of police departments. They were in charge of receiving complaints, investigating and taking the necessary disciplinary actions. There are many actions referring to police misconduct. These include criminal's activities by police officers or violations of citizen's constitutional or civil rights. Police departments have rigid and tight rules that govern the rules and conduct of police officers. These internal rules are quite effective. However, critics argue that it is not possible for one to investigate himself fairy. These are the reasons that led to the formation of citizens oversight.

Citizen oversight has a close relation with civil rights for minorities in the society. Many got formed due to perception of racial or ethnic discrimination of different minority groups. The idea of citizen oversight is widespread across America, Australia, London, and England (Buren, 2007). Another reason behind citizen review is the wide power that police officers hold. Critics argue on the need for an external oversight for checks and balances. Police officers have a lot of power and have much discretion power than other individual in private or public sector. They constantly have to make rush decisions in their line of duty, hence the need for external monitors. Further, police officers have permission to carry and use weapons.

The Role in United States

In the United States, citizen oversight started in 1960 (Lewis & Goldsmith, 2000). The United State was the first Western country to form citizen review. The United States Supreme Court provided legal restrictions on police officers and departments. These had an aim of enhancing their accountability. Other organizations and government arms also provided for other restrictions of regulating the police force. However, despite all this efforts, the police department was not able to assure the public that they were able to control themselves.

There was a public outcry for citizen involvement in police review. People argued that they had a right to control police powers providing checks and balances. Many states in United State formed their own citizen ...