Title: Stakeholder Participation in the Selection and Recruitment of Police: Democracy in Action
Abstract: It is now widely accepted that much police misconduct and corruption stems from the institutional culture of the police organization itself. The impact of this assertion is that remedial measures once thought to address police misconduct and corruption-such as, the exclusionary rule, tort or criminal suits against police officers, the possibility of internal police investigations, and hearings before citizen complaint review boards-while still important, have a declining significance when discussing the long-term, sustainable reforms needed to address the organizational roots of police misconduct. The institutional nature of police misconduct coupled with the inadequacy of other measures to effectively address police misconduct has encouraged many policymakers to embrace a system of reforms aimed at changing that organizational culture. This Article offers a modest proposal for ways in which the federal government could encourage or incentivize the inclusion of the community in the hiring and selection process. Specifically, this Article advocates that the federal government should require police departments within its jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 14141 to implement such programs. Furthermore, for jurisdictions that have not come within the purview of the United States Department of Justice's ("DOJ") federal pattern or practice authority, the government should encourage and incentivize local community involvement in hiring police officers by making grants to departments that devise successful programs.