About the conference
Police accountability is a challenging subject even in the best of times. Increasing public concern about crime, highly visible incidents of use of force (which are often excessive) and the allocation of scarce public resources can lead politicians, the media, and others to raise the most basic questions:
- for what are police accountable?
- to whom are police accountable?
Police officials also have questions about oversight:
- will it be objective and fair?
- will it be managed professionally?
- will it recognize good policing as well as highlight deficiencies?
These are not only theoretical questions.
In countries where crime and violence are increasing, it is vital to understand how a more accountable police service and higher quality police oversight can actually improve public safety. In countries where political reform has yet to overcome longstanding public distrust of police, it is vital to understand how specific accountability mechanisms can strengthen public confidence in the police. In countries where violent conflict persists between rival ethnic or religious groups, it is vital to understand how a more accountable police can avoid partisanship and how effective oversight can help the police establish a reputation for fairness that allows it to protect all citizens.
These are urgent questions on every continent: in Western Europe and North America where the political response to immigration is pushing the police into new roles; in the accession countries of the European Union where rapid institutional reform is underway; in Latin America where rising crime is putting political pressure on newly reformed codes of criminal procedure; in Africa where governance reform is creating new oversight institutions; in South Asia where social conflict frequently pulls police into controversial roles.
The conference examined a developing set of global norms and standards that can help police commanders, parliamentary committees, ombudsmen, human rights commissions, journalists, and civil society organizations navigate through local and regional political change.
Teams from the Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, India, Latvia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, Mexico and the United States as well as participants from Greece, Canada, Portugal, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and the United Kingdom discussed practical experience, challenges, successes, needs, and future plans of their institutions.
The conference was organized by Altus in partnership with the Netherlands Centre for International Police Co-operation (NCIPS).
The conference was based on a mutual understanding of police accountability that includes both accountability for public safety and accountability for respectful treatment of civilians. The conference recognizes that multiple institutions play a role in police accountability and oversight. These can be divided into three types of oversight control which bring different perspectives: internal control by the Police itself, external control by governmental institutions such as ombudsmen, human right commissions, parliamentary committees, auditors, inspectors general, and the like, and social control by the media, neighborhood associations, business associations, non-profit organizations, academic researchers, and other parts of civil society. The conference examined the functioning of police oversight from all of these perspectives with attention on how they can work best together. It was not the purpose of the conference to suggest that one or another of these modes of oversight is to be preferred to any other.
Click here for the participants-list of the conference.
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Conference products
Conference summary by Chris Stone
Christopher Stone is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Altus Global Alliance. He is Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he serves as faculty chair of the program in criminal justice policy and management. Prior to joining the Kennedy School's faculty, he served as President and Director of the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City. He is a graduate of Harvard College, the Institute of Criminology at Cambridge University, and Yale Law School.
Chris Stone, Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The closing plenary session was conducted by Christopher Stone, founder and chair of Altus. This session summarized issues discussed and comments made by conference participants.
Click here to download the summary.
Keynote Presentation by Nick Hardwick
Nick Hardwick is the Chairman of the IPCC, the Independent Police Complaints Commission. He was Chief Executive of the Refugee Council from June 1995 to January 2003. He was Chair of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles from 1999 to 2003 and is a member of the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group. From 1986-1995 Nick Hardwick worked as Chief Executive of Centrepoint, the charity and housing association for young homeless people. During his time at Centrepoint Nick Hardwick was seconded to the Department of the Environment for 6 moths to advise the Housing Minister on the implementation of the gouvernment’s Rough Sleepers Initiative.
Nick Hardwick, Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission of England and Wales (IPCC), was the keynote speaker at the Altus conference. The IPCC is currently investigating the shooting by the police of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in the London underground in July.
Click here to download Nick Hardwick’s speech at the opening session of the conference.
Click here to download the summary.
Conference Papers and Presentations by participants
To find papers or presentations of a participant, click on his/her country. Please note that most papers and presentations have only been made in 1 language.
- Brazil
The paper written by Ignacio Cano addresses general features of police accountability in Brazil, providing an overview of different types of control mechanisms: internal and external controls as well as formal and informal controls. The author presents problems and challenges for building effective police accountability through the articulation of different types of control mechanisms. Finally, Ignacio Cano addresses an example of good practice regarding an effective external control of the police in Brazil: the Police Citizenship Award.
English, download here.
The paper written by Aziz Filho addresses the role of the media in the civilian oversight of the police in Brazil. Departing from a contextualization of some important factors to understand the actual situation of public security in the country, the author analyses important events regarding the media coverage on crime and violence and he provides examples of how the media can help in the oversight of police abuses and misconduct.
English, download here.
José Marcelo Zacchi wrote an instigating paper especially for the conference organized by Altus. He addresses advancements and challenges for an effective and democratic police accountability in Brazil.
Click here to download the text in Portuguese.
- Chile
Paper by Raul Sohr (Spanish, download here).
Presentation by Hugo Frühling (English, download here).
Presentation by Patricio Tudela (Spanish, download here).
- India
Paper by Dr. Pramod: ‘Integrating Internal, State and Social Control of Police: Issues for Building Quality Oversights with a Multicultural Framework’.
The paper captures the challenges of an enforcement oriented maintenance of law and order with attempts to secure a just delivery of police services in a society besieged with multicultural tensions. It debates the delivery of safety and justice by provision of social controls that are directional and reformative in operationalising the institutional mechanisms of police internal controls.
English, download here.
- Latvia
Speech by Andreas Vilks (English, download here).
Paper by Alexey Roshin (English, download here).
- Mexico
Paper by Marco Lara Klarh (English, download here).
- Russia
Speech by Kirill Kabanov (English, download here).
- UK
Presentation by Nick Hardwick (English, download here).
- USA
Merrick Bobb, President of the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC) and the Los Angeles Independent Police Monitor writes an overview paper about the development of US police oversight mechanisms with a particular focus on Los Angeles. In addition, the paper examines the differences between and need for both internal and civilian oversight bodies. Also, the paper highlights the lack of consistency and standardization of oversight systems throughout US policing.
English, download here.
Post Conference media coverage and articles
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