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Nick Licata and Jay Westbrook

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from: Nick Licata

How Do You Hold Police Accountable?

Posted Monday, June 4, 2001, at 6:33 PM ET

Jay,

Just got out of our weekly full council meeting. It was a short meeting; only six of us are here. Three of the council members are in Europe on a tour of Stockholm. Every year the chamber of commerce sponsors a visit to a city overseas for business and political leaders. Although they can be very informative trips, I think we could do more to structure them in a manner that distributes the information we collect to the general public.

What is the policy on your council concerning funding of informational trips to visit other cities or attend conferences? Our council has a set amount of funds set aside for these trips, and we pretty much distribute the funds equally among all the council members regardless of seniority.

Before the council meeting, I met with our new chief of police, Gil Kerlikowske (prior commissioner of police in Buffalo, N.Y.), regarding the shooting of an African-American while he was being ticketed. The short story is that apparently he was stopped by the police for erratic driving. When the police officer reached inside the auto to obtain his driver's license, the driver started to pull away, dragging the police officer with him. Another police officer entered the car from the passenger side and shot the driver after a struggle. The driver died on the way to the hospital. He had been a convicted felon who had walked away from his work release program and was on the wanted list.

Community folks started protesting in the streets shortly after, accusing the police of racial profiling and being too quick to use lethal force in the black community. There has been a call for a number of community meetings to air their concerns regarding police behavior. Some have suggested greater civilian oversight of the police department. We have just passed recent legislation to establish an office of police accountability, but there is some debate in the community as to whether it has sufficient powers to allow for an independent review of police conduct.

I'm sure that Cleveland, like other major cities, has had incidents similar to the one we have just experienced. What type of police citizen oversight mechanism does Cleveland have, and do you think it is effective?

Best,
Nick

the breakfast table
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from: Nick Licata

How Do You Hold Police Accountable?

Posted Monday, June 4, 2001, at 6:33 PM ET
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Nick Licata is an at-large member of the Seattle City Council. Jay Westbrook represents Ward 18 on the Cleveland City Council.
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