Justice Dept. Releases Progress Report On Efforts To Improve Philly Police Training On Use Of Deadly Force & Community Policing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Justice Department, tracking the progress of Philadelphia police training on the use of deadly force and community policing, is releasing a six-month progress report.
The Philadelphia Police Department was given 91-recommendations last March to address officer involved shootings and use of deadly force incidents, 24 percent are complete or nearly there, with another 66 percent of the recommendations in progress.
As for the remaining 10 percent with no reported movement, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who is spending his last days at the helm, before retiring, says they deal specifically with investigating Philadelphia police officer involved shootings.
He recommends assigning Pennsylvania State Police to those tasks.
"It has nothing to do with our being capable of doing it; but the perception is that it's bias, because it is internal."
Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, at the request of Ramsey, analyzed use of force incidents in Philadelphia between 2007-2013, revealing that the PPD averaged about 50 officer-involved shootings a year.
COPS is at the one-third mark in the implementation phase of instituting reforms in the PPD. It is expected to be completed in early 2017.
The Justice Department's Ron Davis says the efforts in Philadelphia serve as a national model.
"I get calls from mayors, U.S. attorneys, and from the chiefs, as they're dealing with a lot the challenges."
The reform initiative is being shared with 16,000 police agencies across the country, most of which have 50 sworn officers or fewer.
Davis says sharing their experiences and the findings will help departments all over the country when crisis breaks out, like in Ferguson, Cleveland, Chicago and neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
