Los Angeles is Taking Names
Almost a year has passed since the ruthless murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his neck and strangled him to death outside a convenience store. This led to a mass protest for months. Many people belonging to different ethnicity and states showed their anger against racial discrimination and police brutality in America. The protests and demonstrations continued in around 150 cities to ensure justice for George Floyd.
Derek Chauvin already faced a dozen of misconduct complaints before he murdered an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. He is not the only one involved in police brutality; many such cases have come out over the years. The New York City officer, Daniel Pantaleo, had a record of eight misconducts before he was finally caught for a deadly chokehold on Eric Garner. Another notorious Philadelphia police officer Ryan Powell has been detained in the murder of David Jones, and he had over 15 misconduct complaints.
For the first time, the University of South California’s Safe communities institute is trying to introduce an inclusive and complete registry for police misconduct. The registry is called the LEWIS registry, named after John Lewis (former Georgia congressman and civil rights leader).
The sole purpose of LEWIS (Law enforcement work inquiry system) is to prevent the cops who are involved in any kind of corruption, sexual assault, and violence from rejoining different police departments after being fired. The registry will make sure that any police officer with a previous record of misconduct or affiliation with hate groups will be discharged from his/her powers.
The LEWIS registry aims to make records by using information obtained from police departments, court records, news reports, and many other sources to maintain the transparency of the collected data. The registry will regularly track the reports against cops using excessive force, harassment, perjury, and corruption.
U.S. Rep. Karen Bass said that the national police misconduct registry is an important step to protect the citizens from violent and corrupt police officers. The police officer will be aware of the fact that they are accountable for their actions in front of the public and won’t be rehired by any other agency if suspended or terminated.
While talking to NBC Los Angeles, the director of USC safe communities institute Errol Souther said it is a bouncing phenomenon. In California, you can do nothing to stop bad cops if their personnel record files remain protected. We are unable to see enough efforts because last year, state legislation failed to pass the desertification of officers who faced charges of serious misconduct.
The LEWIS national misconduct registry has passed through the House of Representatives, but it is yet to be accepted in the senate. The police protective league released a statement that they have privacy concerns. They have doubts about a private entity handling all the databases. In order to pass completely, the registry has to make sure that no police officer is mistakenly held accountable for unverified and invalid cases.
Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association in New York City, said that there are chances that police officers and their families will be targeted and harassed by cop-haters if their personnel records are released publicly. He further added that many mentally unstable people who cannot understand the seriousness of a situation need one or two false allegations to commit violence against police officers.
The information obtained by the Associated Press from the United States Department of homeland security, the personal data of many cops, such as name, address, contact number, etc., have already been reported to be leaked online.
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According to Defense Attorney Seppi Esfandi, the abuse of power by the police has been a problem for decades, and Los Angeles has it’s fair share of abusive and “trigger happy cops”.
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