As a result of the hearings and
testimony taken by several hundreds of witnesses, the Black United Frort offers
the following recommendations to be en- acted by the D. C. City Council.
All District policemen must be required to live in the District. This is both a logical and healthy requirement. It would have the double effect of involving the police in the protection of their own community and making them more sensitive to the needs of District residents.
All-white patrols in black communities would be prohibited. An unwritten law now exists that all-white patrols are assigned to certain predominantly white sections of the city. In the alternative, all black policemen should be assigned to the black community.
Establish Precinct Citizens' Selection and Review Boards. Each Precinct Board will be made up of residents of the respective precincts. The Board members will be elected by the citizens in the corresponding Precincts. These Boards will have the power to:
All District policemen must be required to live in the District. This is both a logical and healthy requirement. It would have the double effect of involving the police in the protection of their own community and making them more sensitive to the needs of District residents.
All-white patrols in black communities would be prohibited. An unwritten law now exists that all-white patrols are assigned to certain predominantly white sections of the city. In the alternative, all black policemen should be assigned to the black community.
Establish Precinct Citizens' Selection and Review Boards. Each Precinct Board will be made up of residents of the respective precincts. The Board members will be elected by the citizens in the corresponding Precincts. These Boards will have the power to:
a) determine and
establish the criteria for the policemen assigned to their Precinct and present
such criteria to a city-wide Citizens' Police Per sonnel Board,
b) approve or disapprove the assignment of all policemen in
their Precinct (receive applications from the city-wide Citizens Police
Personnel Board),
c) act as a complaint and review board for all confrontations between the police and citizens and recommend disciplinary action against such officers where it deems appropriate.
Establish a city-wide Citizens'
Police Personnel Board. This Board would
be composed of the Chairman of each Precinct Citizens' Selection and Review
Board. This city-wide Board would have the power to:
a) recruit, process, approve, and hire all policemen — in
accord with the criteria presented it from the Precinct Citizens' Selection and
Review Boards,
b) act as a trial board on each case brought before it by the Precinct Citizens' Selection and Re view Boards for disciplinary action. This city-wide Citizens' Police Personnel Board would have its own staff of investigators and attorneys. In each case brought before it for disciplinary action, one of the city-wide Board attorneys would act in behalf of the complaining citizen(s). The police officer(s) involved and brought before the Board for discipline would be represented by an attorney provided by the District Government. Each such case brought before the city-wide Board would have to be heard by the entire city-wide Citizens' Police Personnel Board. This Board would have final say on the dismissal of an officer.
Establish a mechanism for the selection of each Precinct
Captain by each corresponding Precinct Citizens' Selection and Review Board.
This could perhaps be done through the use of lateral entry from other
agencies.
A psychologist should determine if a person is racially prejudiced.
A psychologist should determine if a person is racially prejudiced.
Stop all
outside-the-District recruiting now.
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