Investigating Police Misconduct
In many communities served by public defenders problematic encounters with the police are a perennial problem. Because defenders are often the first observers of clients after arrest, they are in a unique position to see the effect of misconduct and abuse, and to document it. A defender in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has a proposal for creating a "copwatch" data base to track cases of suspected excess force by police and compile data regarding the circumstances of a defendant’s arrest and injury. In Seattle, Washington, the Defender Association’s Racial Disparity Project challenged discriminatory deployment of officers for "buy-bust" operations in communities of color. Defenders are also in a position to help members of the communities they serve avoid bad encounters with the police. Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem sends community outreach workers into the neighborhood to train community members, especially young people, about their rights when interacting with police. And, in Charlottesville-Albemarle, the Public Defender and the Citizens Advisory Committee is improving interactions between police and people with mental illness.
