Commission asks Dept of Justice for overdue public report on COPS Office inquiry

into Philadelphia Police Department shootings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelvyn Anderson, Executive Director, Police Advisory Commission
215-685-0882 kelvyn.anderson@phila.gov

(January 29, 2015) Citing unexplained delays and the need for public review of shootings by police in
Philadelphia, the Commission has asked U.S. Department of Justice officials to release the first of several
public reports resulting from the Collaborative Reform Review of the Philadelphia Police Department.
In May 2013, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey requested the COPS office to conduct a
comprehensive review of officer-involved shootings. As with a similar review conducted by the COPS Office in
Las Vegas from 2010 to 2012, DOJ contractors analyzed training, policies and tactics, along with the
departments investigative, disciplinary procedures and transparency in response to critical incidents.
As part of the public engagement process, the Commission held a forum in City Hall in July 2014, where
testimony was taken and DOJ officials described the process in detail. The initial assessment report, the first in
a series, was due in the fall of 2014, followed by six-month progress reviews to assess the Police Departments
progress implementing the recommendations.
Though Commissioner Ramsey and police department officials were provided with details of the initial
assessment in December 2014, to date no public report has been released.
The individuals and organizations that brought very serious concerns and testimony to the table around police
shootings in Philadelphia are anxious to evaluate the outcome of the review for themselves, the Commission
noted in its letter to COPS office Director Ronald L. Davis.
Providing the details of the review to police while delaying the public release of the report threatens to
undermine the integrity of the process, the Commission noted. While the events in Ferguson, MO and around
the U.S. that resulted in the formation of the Presidents Task Force on 21st Century Policing are dominating
public attention, the ongoing reviews your office has undertaken in Philadelphia, Baltimore, MD and Spokane
WA hold tremendous potential for very specific improvements in the short term, but only if citizens believe that
collaboration means their views, input and evaluations of the process are as valuable as those offered by law
enforcement.
-----------The Police Advisory Commission is the official civilian oversight agency of the City of Philadelphia for the
Philadelphia Police Department. The general mission of the Commission is to improve the relationship between
the police department and the community.