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Pittsburgh's Experience with a Federal Consent Decree

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Pittsburgh's Experience with a Federal Consent Decree TURNING NECESSITY INTO VIRTUE Pittsburgh’s Experience with a Federal Consent Decree Robert C. Davis Christopher W. Ortiz Nicole J. Henderson Joel Miller Michelle K. Massie Vera Institute of Justice September 2002 © 2002 Vera Institute of Justice. All rights reserved. This project was supported by cooperative agreement #2001-CK-WX-K037 by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Additional copies can be obtained from the communications department of the Vera Institute of Justice, 233 Broadway, 12th floor, New York, New York, 10279, (212) 334-1300. An electronic version of this report is available for download on Vera’s web site, www.vera.org. Requests for additional information about the research described in this report should be directed to Robert C. Davis at the above address or at [email protected]. Executive Summary Increasingly, federal courts are scrutinizing state and local police departments, particularly since 1994, when Congress gave the Justice Department power to sue over a “pattern or practice” of policing that violates federal law or the Constitution. The Justice Department brought its first case in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, entering a consent decree with the city government in 1997. Today, with federal courts monitoring half a dozen departments (four as the result of DOJ involvement), the department’s new “pattern or practice” authority is increasingly controversial. Yet, among both police officials and civil rights groups, the Pittsburgh consent decree is generally viewed as a success in terms of increasing police accountability and improving officer training. This report examines the five-year experience of the police and citizens of Pittsburgh with this decree, drawing lessons for other cities. Throughout the fifth year of the consent decree, researchers from the Vera Institute conducted structured interviews with the police chief, the federal court monitor, and city administrators. The researchers conducted focus groups with police officers and their supervisors, and examined official data on police activity, public safety, discipline, and morale among police officers. The researchers also interviewed a cross-section of community activists and conducted a survey of 400 residents. The study reveals several elements of the Pittsburgh experience that helped bring the police department quickly into compliance with the decree. The mayor and other officials overcame their initial hostility to the decree, forming a strong and effective implementation committee. The federal court monitor produced a compliance manual, organizing the daunting list of tasks into manageable steps and consulted community groups early in the process. The police chief developed an early warning system that identified officers who may be in need of corrective supervision, as he had proposed before federal intervention; he strengthened reporting of less-than-lethal force in ways that helped officers justify their conduct; he replaced indiscriminate drug sweeps with intelligence-based enforcement; and he increased the accountability of supervisors through a quarterly meeting of command staff. This meeting reviews all officers who have been indicated by the early warning system. In contrast, the city agencies responsible for investigating civilian complaints about the police did not move as quickly and are not yet in compliance. The study also highlights the importance of public relations and employee relations for police departments undergoing reform. Some officers complain about a decline in morale, an increase in paperwork, and a reluctance to engage in enforcement actions. Trend data refute these claims, showing no increase in the use of sick time, discipline, or separations from the department, no decline in summons rates, and a steady downward trend in arrests from well before the decree. But the disaffection of some officers presents its own problems which need to be managed. A survey of 400 Pittsburgh residents showed that public opinion of the police has improved in a number of respects, although improvements are generally larger among whites than among blacks. Some community leaders remain concerned that accountability is low in the middle ranks and that the department cannot yet monitor itself. Such views also represent a potential source of trouble for the department if not publicly addressed. Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................... 1 The Emergence of Police Monitors.............................................................. 1 The Setting ............................................................................................... 2 Police and the Community .......................................................................... 3 Response of Minority/Human Rights Community........................................... 5 The Consent Decree is Born ....................................................................... 7 Purposes and Organization of the Report..................................................... 8 Implementation................................................................................................ 10 Implementation Committee........................................................................ 10 The Monitor............................................................................................. 11 Bureau of Police ...................................................................................... 12 The Office of Municipal Investigations ........................................................ 13 Policy Change.................................................................................................. 15 The Bureau of Police................................................................................. 15 Office of Municipal Investigations ............................................................... 19 The Early Warning System ................................................................................ 25 Designing PARS....................................................................................... 27 Operation................................................................................................ 28 What PARS Captures................................................................................ 29 How PARS is Used................................................................................... 30 COMPSTAR ............................................................................................. 31 Community Views on the Consent Decree and its Impact on Policing .................... 34 Public Reactions to the Consent Decree .................................................... 35 Perspectives on Decree Implementation .................................................... 36 General Perceptions of the Decree’s Impact............................................... 37 Changes in Police-Community Relations ..................................................... 38 Perceptions of Police Abuse of Force ........................................................ 39 Perceptions of Treatment of African-Americans .......................................... 41 Policing Activity ....................................................................................... 41 The Quality of Public Encounters with the Police ......................................... 43 Perceptions of Complaint Investigation ...................................................... 45 Looking to the Future: The End of the Consent Decree................................ 47 How the Decree has Affected the way in which Officers Approach their Jobs........................................................................................................ 48 Officer Morale ......................................................................................... 49 Use of the Early Warning System .............................................................. 49 Use of Force ........................................................................................... 51 Police Activity.......................................................................................... 51 Effectiveness in the Community ................................................................ 52 Special Concerns of African-American Police Officers ................................. 52 Analysis of Trends in Police Performance, Public Safety, Disciplinary Actions, and Citizen Complaints .......................................................................................... 53 Police Morale .......................................................................................... 53 Public Safety........................................................................................... 54 Police Activity.......................................................................................... 55 Disciplinary Actions.................................................................................. 58 Analysis of Supervisor Time Allocation....................................................... 58 Citizen Complaints ................................................................................... 60 Synthesis and Lessons Learned ........................................................................ 62 Lessons Learned....................................................................................
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