"Exercises in Futility": Dallas Police Oversight Board Mired in Frustration and Inaction

[Martin68]

4. It's not a matter of "throwing money at it." It's a matter of active enforcement with real

consequences for bad behavior. It will require independent oversight so that the police won't be policing themselves. It will require laws that prevent cops that have been fired from immediately getting a job with a different PD in a different state. It will require that police who have been reprimanded or fired will have that on their permanent employment record. It will require that the process of investigating charges and assigning guilt will be open to the public. The police are hiding behind a wall of immunity, non-disclosure, and confidentiality, preventing the public and government officials from having access to the information they need to determine whether a candidate for a position in the police force has a clean record. There are steps that can and must be taken to reform our police departments and hold them to standards that are higher, not lower, than those to which we hold our citizens. Out governors and mayors need to be able to see patterns of misbehavior that should disqualify individuals on the police force from holding a job with law enforcement.