Police responses to mass protests present unique challenges for oversight agencies seeking to review a department’s training, preparation, strategies, policies, determinations regarding officers’ uniforms and gear, deployment of weaponry, on-the-ground supervisory, decision-making, and individual officers’ actions. The protests last summer, which erupted after police killed George Floyd on May 25, 2020, exemplify these challenges. This webinar features two oversight practitioners who led their agencies’ systemic review of the Denver and New York City Police Departments’ responses to days of protests and demonstrations. Following these systemic reviews, both the Denver Office of the Independent Monitor and the New York City Department of Investigation published detailed and comprehensive reports describing their findings and recommendations.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, NACOLE welcomed Nicholas Mitchell, former independent monitor for the city and county of Denver, and Andrew Brunsden, counsel to the commissioner and inspector general, at the New York City Department of Investigation to discuss how they approached and conducted their reviews and reached determinations on recommendations. The webinar should help oversight practitioners and policymakers decide on effective techniques and strategies for reviewing protracted, chaotic protests during which police use force in ways the public views as illegitimate, counterproductive, and/or unlawful.