Civilian Oversight of the Police in the United States

More than ten years have elapsed since the Rodney King incident where officers of the Los Angeles Police Department were recorded on a bystander’s videotape beating an African-American motorist senseless with their batons. Since then there has been wave upon wave of controversial incidents rocking the foundations of U.S. law enforcement. Events in two of the nation’s most highly respected police departments, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), serve as graphic examples. In New York, the NYPD’s brutalization of Abner Louima and the shooting of Amadou Diallo generated strong criticism. Officers involved in the Louima case were put on trial. In Los Angeles, the LAPD has been almost constantly subject to one investigation or another since the Rodney King beating. Recently, the LAPD suffered embarrassment and opprobrium from the Rampart scandal, where LAPD officers were shown to have planted evidence and guns and wrongfully shot young Latinos suspected of gang activity.