HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-10-1999 ArticlesWashi~stoa~o~t.com: police Panel Late on Reports htlP://www'washinst°np°st'c°mtwp's~/l°cal/dmiy/juiyg~t/t~°ara2°'mm
Police Panel Late on Reports
By Craig ~7~itlock
Washinglon Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 26, 1999; Page Al
This government agency isn't listed in the phone book. A directory in
the lobby of its office building directs visitors to the wrong floor. It
hasn't released a single new public document in more than three years
and refuses to disclose basic information about its recent activities.
It's not a top-secret research lab or an agency concerned with national
security. Instead, it's the Prince George's County Citizen Complaint
Oversight Panel, a group that is supposed to monitor allegations of
~z~'- - police misconduct and brutality and reassure the public that
complaints about law enforcement aren't swept under the carpet.
The panel is composed of seven members appointed by County
Executive Wayne K. Curry (D), who received campaign contributions
from six of them when he sought reelection last year.
The members are paid $50 an hour to review complaints of police
harassment, excessive force and abusive language. The panel was
formed in 1990 in response to a public outcry over the fate of
Gregory Karl Habib, a unarmed Ghanaian man who died afier a 1989
scuffle with four white Prince George's police officers during a traffic
stop.
The panel is required to issue an annual report to the public detailing
the number of cases it has reviewed, as well as its general findings and
recommendations for changes in the police department.
But it has been more than three years since the panel's last report, in
April 1996, and most o£the misconduct investigations it dealt with
dated to incidents in 1994.
Panel members said that they regret not publishing a report for the
last three years and added that they hope to complete one in the next
few months.
The panel's chairman, Valerie J. Kaplan, of Laurel, attributed the
delays to computer problems and transition adjustments stemming
from the appointment of five new panel members in 1996. But she
said the panel has been hard at work and is reviewing cases on a
timely basis.
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"I think we have done a conscientious and skillful job," Kaplan said in
an interview last week. "We have been working very hard to get this
report into shape and to get it printed. It's something that is front and
center for us. I want this to come out. I feel badly it hasn't."
Kaplan refused to release figures on how many cases the panel has
reviewed in recent years or how many complaints it has received. She
also refused to describe the nature of any of the panel's findings or to
disclose general recommendations it has made to Prince George's
Police Chief John S. Farrell.
Farrell declined to comment. But police spokesman Royce D.
Holloway said the department had been receiving regular reports from
the panel. "We have a good working relationship with them and
welcome their input and oversight," Holloway said. "We don't always
agree, but their input is well considered."
The panel meets once a week on average to discuss cases, Kaplan
said. The members serve staggered four-year terms.
Members are paid $50 an hour but cannot receive more than $10,000
a year, according to county law. County officials refused to disclose
how much panel members have earned since their last report came out
in 1996. The panel's budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 is
$129,600, which includes money for a full-time administrative
assistant and a pm-time lawyer.
Community activists have criticized the secrecy, saying that the whole
point of having a Citizen Complaint Oversight Panel is to build public
confidence that complaints about police misconduct will be taken
seriously.
"How can we as citizens have any faith in them?" asked Eugene
Grant, a Seat Pleasant resident who sits on a separate police
department advisory board picked by Farrell. "Are they covering up
something? How can we as a community judge or gauge whether or
not the panel is effective?"
Fred Thomas, an assistant to Curry and the county's director of public
safety, praised the panel's performance, although he said he wished it
hadn't fallen three years behind in issuing reports to the public.
"We see no need to take exception to the work they're doing,"
Thomas said. "We're concerned about the annual report. But it's just
one of those things that fell through the cracks."
,The issue of police misconduct is especially sensitive in Prince
George's, where police make far more arrests and traffic stops than in
any other suburb in the Washington region and where relations
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between the police and the public have long been troubled. Although
tensions have subsided somewhat in recent years, allegations of police
brutality were loud and frequent during the 1970s and 1980s, as the
county changed from a majority white population to one that is now
about 57 percent black.
Prince George's and the District are the only jurisdictions in the area
where a citizens panel has the authority to regularly review
investigations of police misconduct. The District's Civilian Complaint
Review Board was disbanded in 1995 after becoming backlogged
with more than 750 unresolved cases. The D.C. Council recently
approved a bill to reestablish the review board, but it is not yet up and
running,
Prince George's police officials said they have worked hard to shed
their old reputation for heavy-handedness. The department's statistics
show that the number of formal written complaints of police
misconduct dropped by more than haifbetween 1993 and 1998, from
187 to 88.
But those figures are hard to verify. The most recent statistics from
the Citizen Complaint Oversight Panel are from 1995, and they
include only complaints that fall into three specific categories:
harassment, abusive language and excessive force.
Kaplan refused to disclose any up-to-date numbers from the panel,
saying she couldn't vouch for their accuracy because of computer
problems. She said the panel uses a tailor-made software program
that makes it difficult to produce reports.
"The complaint numbers have been going down, but exactly how
much, that's what we're trying to refine," she said. "I really don't want
to release any data until I feel comfortable with its integrity. We need
to give [the data] a final scrub."
Some community groups, including the Prince George's chapter of the
NAACP, have said they are skeptical that complaints about police
behavior have declined. They said residents are reluctant to report
problems because they fear retribution or don't think they will be
taken seriously.
"Maybe complaints are going down because people don't have any
faith in the system," Grant said. "Maybe it's because people think
nothing is going to happen. Most of'the time, individuals are
intimidated by the whole process."
Kaplan acknowledged that the panel doesn't review many high-profile
allegations of police brutality because victims don't file formal
complaints. Instead, they hire lawyers and file lawsuits.
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For instance, at least 13 lawsuits are pending against members of the
county police department's canine unit alleging excessive force. But
Kaplan said she could recall only one instance in which the panel
reviewed a case involving the canine unit.
The panel does not investigate complaims itself. By law, it has only
the power to review the written record of investigations conducted by
the police department's Internal Affairs Division or by the county's
Human Relations Commission.
The panel has 30 working days to review a case and submit its
recommendations or comments to the police chief. The chief is not
bound to accept the panel's findings.
Kaplan refused to provide summaries of the recommendations or to
disclose how often they were accepted or rejected by the chief--
information that has been included in the panel's previous public
reports.
She questioned how interested the public is in the panel's work. She
said the panel's annual reports from 1992 through 1996 received little
attention.
"The public didn't ask many questions when we were producing
reports," Kaplan said. "! can't say in the years they came out that
there was a very large response from the public .... We've gotten
zero response -- zip."
But the panel's former chairman, the Rev. Robert .1'. Williams Sr., said
keeping the public informed is important.
"We worked long and hard to make sure we had everything in place
and that the reports went out in a timely fashion," said Williams, who
oversaw the panel's last public report before stepping down in 1996.
"I really don't know what has happened or why things have changed.
But if you don't release information at all, the public doesn't know
what's going on."
Besides Kaplan, the panel members are: Alfred L. Barrett, of Oxon
Hill; Manuel Oeraldo, of Camp Springs; Terry P. Ooolsby, of Upper
Marlboro; Dervey A. Lomax, of College Park; Jervie S. Petty, of Fort
Washington; and the Rev. Perry A. Smith III, of Bowie.
Except for Geraldo, all of the panel members gave campaign
contributions to Curry during his successful 1998 reelection bid.
According to reports filed with the state Board of Elections, Curry
received $1,450 from Smith, $700 from Goolsby, $210 from Barrett,
$195 from Lomax and $75 from Kaplan. Curry also received a
combined $400 in donations from Petty and her husband, John A.
2 ways of ioOking at
'Driving While Black'
, **~~ ~ Why we track
~~- racial data
~ ~e ~n d~ Poli~ ~pa~ment
evident, not ;~y a~ut ~n
e~nlciW.
dep~ent's
o~c~s, we m~t ad~ ~is ~ue
~rd ~e ~, ~e pubtic ~e
For a black man, getting pulled over
· happens with along frequency
· e ~eri~n Civil Liables Union.
ag*neios from Cflffomh to New Je~y hav8 ~RE 18 A SEg of ~os ~ black men Justice.
of her unsnap~ pistol ~e whole tlme.l told her I was ~m~g from work and the puMlcallows ~e offimr.
business is every bit as important as
~ what we accomplish. Along with the
across it couldn't say that f~r me. She said When officers
there had been a report of a robbery at the department's 20-year commitment to
store and 1 fit the description of a suspect, make a stop, one of the first things they do is hiring a force that mirrors the
unsnap their holsters for easy acces~ to theLr community, I hope these steps will
Obvinusly there hadn't been a robbery -- I weapons. The partner, if there is one, Ls make the San Jose Police Department
had Just left the store. But what was I to say? standing to the right rear of the car, hands a national leader in treating everyone
Looking into her eyes. I realized that one resting on the butt of another pistol with respect and courtesy.
wrong move could lead to my being a) carted unsnapped from its holster.
off to jail, b) beaten, then carted off to jail, or As Bill Lan Lee, the assistant U.S.
c) shot, then carted off to Jail. One "suspicious" move, and the next day's attorney in charge of the civil rights
I said nothing, headlines will read, "Officers shoot man division, said in a recent interview
She looked me over and told me to get reaching for gun." here, "The San Jose Police Department
home. And I did. AS A REPORTER, I deal with officers on should be a model for the rest of the
In the 12 years since, I have been stopped the job. They seem to be nice people, but that country."
by officers for no apparent reason five more is when they know me as "Marcus Walton Already, I've received calls from
thnes. That doesn't count the times l've been from the Mercury News." police officials across the nation who
pulled over for having a taillight out or for When I am not wearing my press want to know more about our efforts
going a few miles over the speed lhuiL credentials, our relationship is far different. I and who agree that there can be no
Being pulled over for a DWB, or "Driving am no longer an irritating but harnfless tolerance for discrimination and
While Black or Brown," ts not a new phenom- reporter. Often I am Just another "suspect" prejudice In law enforcement.
enon. It harkens hack to slavery days, when who fits their profile. Still, some police departtnents have
any black person encountered after dark ~ or The DWB phenomenon exists not only resisted efforts at tracking who they
during the day, for that matter -- would be because there are bad cops, but because the stop. They say it might compromise
stopped and made to present proof of the mas- public allows it. officers' ability to do their jobs or
ter's pormlsalon to be out and about. Some people believe illegal and immoral would take too much time.
But if you were to ask most police agencies activity by our law enforcement is a small On the contrary: When of'ricers are
and the mainstream press, this was one of price to pay to get a statistical drop in the really conunitted and dedicated to
those "urban myths" -- a phenomenon that crime rate. doing the job, collecting this data
didn't exist until a few high-prct'fle cases But how can we demand that citizens follow should not have the slightest effect,
brought it to public attention, the law if those who are sworn to uphold it and in fact will help law enforcement
Now, as the Department of Justice, the are allowed to deface it? DWB retttrns us to by building a stronger relationship
American Civil Liberties Union and the the Napoleonic Code, where everyone is with the communitT. On the other
National Association for the Advancement of guilty until proven inncoenL hand, if there is racial profiling, the
Colored People begin a nationwide campaign I hope this recent attention to the issue deparm~ent should address it because
to combat this scourge -- and as the lawsuits means we can ail rest assured that we no it ts illegal.
pile up, including one fried this summer longer have police officers who think it is Just IN DEVELOPING the tracking
against the California Highway Patrol -- the and right to stop and harass people based system here, we've learned that it is
public is waking up. solely on the color of their skin. really quite simple. Ilr a department as
People are beginning to revise that every I believe a change is going to come. large as San Jose's can do it, it can be
time you see a car filled with young black, Each ge~/eration gets to leave a nasty piece easily done In most police
Latino or Asian men on the side of the road of our past to the history books and our cnl- departments, with no additional costs.
surrounded by cops, the men aren't rural memory. My mother didn't have to We have one of the best police
necessarily gang-bangers or gang-rapists, teach me about Jim Crow laws in order for depa~'tmenCs in the country because of
Quite often they are young men who are go- me to survive my childhood. Her mother the quality and dedication of the men
lng to work, to family events, to have a good didn't have to warn her about the Night Rid- and women who work here. The
time with friends. Or simply going home. ers. And maybe, Just maybe, I won't have to collection of the data and its analysis
"How do you know a police stop is based on teach my children about surviving a DWB. will help us to become even better. It
race?" some skeptics ask. is the right thing to do and the right
Easy. The same way you I~now a job Marcus E. Walton is a ~an Jose Mercury time to do it.
interview isn't going right because you said News staff writer.
the wrong thing. The same way you realize. ~ e~Oer se~oave~s Bill Lansdowne is chief of the San
Jose, Cai{f, Police Department. He
wrote this article for the San Jose