Conducting Just Use of Force Investigations

The expert testimony, research, scholarship, and lived experience collected by the Commission revealed the following:

• In the United States, immigrant communities and ethnic minorities often become disproportionate targets of the traditional crime control model that uses physical force (Simmons, 2010). New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) found that while Blacks comprised 23 percent of the city’s population, they represented 55 percent of reported victims of alleged police misconduct from 2008 to 2013; Hispanics were 29 percent of the population and accounted for 26 percent of complaints; and Whites were 34 percent of the population but only 9% of the alleged victims of police misconduct (N.Y.C. Civilian, 2014). In 2013, 53 percent of all complaints against police departments were for alleged misconduct in use of force (N.Y.C. Civilian, 2014). The most severe of these instances of use of force resulted in the death of a civilian.
• Police-involved deaths are generally investigated through a two-pronged approach. The first investigation, which is aimed at determining whether an officer has committed a crime, is usually conducted internally by detectives from a homicide squad or force investigation squad (L.A. Police Department, 2014; Katz, 2015). The first stage may be conducted by a neighboring department if the officer’s own agency is too small and doesn’t have the resources (Sullivan, 2014; Katz, 2015). With the findings of this investigation in hand, the local prosecutor determines whether to file charges against the officer through procedures that might involve convening a grand jury, depending on the jurisdiction (Sullivan, 2014). The second investigation considers whether or not the officer disregarded department policies (Sullivan, 2014; Katz, 2015).
• A large collection of research demonstrates that “public perceptions of the fairness of the justice system in the United States are more significant in shaping its legitimacy than perceptions that it is effective” (Katz, 2015; Hough et al., 2010).
• Opinion polls taken after the death of Michael Brown demonstrate that significant cross-sections of the public did not have confidence in the investigations into the shooting (Pew Research, 2014; Peter Moore, 2014). For example, 76% of Black people surveyed by the Pew Research Center had little confidence or no confidence in the investigation of Mr. Brown’s shooting (Pew Research, 2014). In a poll by YouGov, less than half— only 42%—of Whites “trust[ed] the justice system to properly investigate” police-involved deaths, while a mere 19% of African Americans had such trust in the existing system (Moore, 2014).

These findings prompted the Commission to draft several calls to action to change use-of-force investigations in an effort to create a fairer justice system and improve citizens’ trust and confidence in the investigation process for use-of-force incidents. In addition to the inputs noted at the beginning of this document, these recommendations are based on the research and work of a group of former U.S. Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys based in St. Louis with the intent of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety in the prosecution of use of force cases.

To that end, the Commission issues the calls to action found below.