The “(in)justice system murders Philandro Castile and rules itself not guilty,” says Julia Wallace of Black Lives Matter. I agree. This time a black man was shot seven times in front of his girlfriend and daughter, and once again, a police officer gets away with murder as he was ruled not guilty.
What is it about the criminal justice system that causes it not to prosecute police officers for these homicides? For example, 97 percent of police violence cases in 2015 resulted in officers facing no criminal charges. Prosecution seems to occur only in some of those instances where there is public pressure like street demonstrations. Yet, when trials occur, officers are seldom found guilty. Of the 13 officers indicted in 2015, only five were convicted.
What is it about the law and the practice of policing that produce this small number of convictions? One answer points to the close relationship between prosecutors and law enforcement officials, which may tilt prosecutors for police officers. While that close relationship sometimes appears to be at play, it may be only one of the factors, along with existing policies and practices in policing.
Police are often shielded in their problematic behavior by legal protections. A committee of Black Lives Matter investigated police union contracts and statewide Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights laws and found them problematic for police accountability. Working with legal experts, advocates, and academics with expertise in this subject, they identified six major areas where these contracts and bills of rights contribute to making it harder to hold police accountable for misconduct:
- Disqualifying misconduct complaints that are submitted too many days after an incident occurs or if an investigation takes too long to complete
- Preventing police officers from being interrogated immediately after being involved in an incident or otherwise restricting how, when or where they can be interrogated
- Giving officers access to information that civilians do not get before being interrogated
- Limiting disciplinary consequences for officers or limiting the capacity of civilian oversight structures and the media to hold police accountable
- Requiring cities to pay costs related to police misconduct including by giving officers paid leave while under investigation, paying legal fees, and the cost of settlements
- Preventing information on past misconduct investigations from being recorded or retained in an officer’s personnel file
The Black Lives Matter team reviewed contracts in 81 cities and found that deals in 72 cities included at least one of these barriers to police accountability. In Minnesota, where Philando Castile was killed, at least two of these protections of police officers apply–numbers 2 and 4. In that state, interrogations of officers are limited in when they can be conducted, and during an interrogation, an officer must be given breaks that are not provided to citizens.
The bill of rights in Minnesota also says interrogations must be held during an officer’s regularly scheduled work shift, and if they are not, the officer involved receives payment for the interrogation time. Further, Minnesota’s police bill of rights specifically excludes civilian discipline power. It prohibits the use of a civilian review board or any other kind of civilian oversight.
Collective bargaining agreements are meant to make sure that workers are treated fairly; however, it seems that for police unions they have crossed the line and disadvantaged citizens.