Police Chiefs Call For Misconduct Review

Special to The Denver Post

June 3, 2000 - After recent police misconduct in cities such as Los
Angeles and New York, the International Association of Chiefs of
Police is calling for the creation of a commission to conduct a
comprehensive review of law enforcement nationwide.

Association president Col. Michael D. Robinson said the association is
asking Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore to
establish the commission during the next administration.

"We are standing at a crossroad," said Robinson, who is also director
of the Michigan State Police. ". . . If we lose the public trust we
lose the ability to maintain safety."

"The public is ever more mindful of our actions," he said. "They are
looking at not only what we are doing to protect their safety, but how
we are doing so." Law enforcement must be in contact with the
community to gain public trust, Robinson said. The association is
holding its board of directors meeting in Denver this weekend.
Suspicion of misconduct such as racial profiling lessens public
confidence in officers nationwide, including Colorado, said Colorado
State Patrol Chief Col. Lonnie Westphal.

"We are all placed under the same umbrella of criticism," Westphal
said. "When (state patrolmen) stop a car there are people who say,
"This is the same thing that happened to Rodney King.' There is a
stigma attached to officers who are dedicated to doing their jobs."

The State Patrol began meeting with 20 minority community members last
month to discuss the issue of racial profiling. Another meeting is set
for July, Westphal said. The national commission would conduct a
systematic review of all aspects of law enforcement and justice
administration, including arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations,
Robinson said.

Police officers in New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Riverside,
Calif., have all come under public scrutiny and criticism for shooting
young minority members.

"We need to address those perceptions," Colorado's Westphal said. "We
need to understand what the public is thinking and they have to
understand what our job is."

Robinson said the idea for the commission was proposed at a directors'
meeting last month in Michigan. There has not been a national review
since 1967, under President Lyndon Johnson.