CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARDS
A municipal body composed of citizen representatives charged with the investigation of complaints by members of the public concerning misconduct
by police officers. Such bodies may be independent
agencies or part of a law enforcement agency.
Generally, the power of a civilian review
board is restricted to reviewing an already com-
pleted internal police investigation, and com-
menting on it to the Chief of Police. Citizen
review boards have not been very effective at
causing reform, as they are often co-opted by the
police department whose investigations they are
supposed to review, and thus wind up agreeing
with the police department in almost all
instances.
Some of the newer civilian review board
models, however, provide board members with
investigatory as well as review authority. Some
of these models contemplate that the board will
conduct parallel investigations to supplement
the internal affairs investigations. In a few local-
ities, the review board has subpoena power and
can force a police officer to testify. A few juris-
dictions even grant sole investigatory power to
their civilian review boards. But it is very rare for
a civilian review board to have the final say as to
the disposition of an investigation or discipline
to be imposed on an officer. These ultimate deci-
sions generally continue to be the province of
the chief of police. Nonetheless, all civilian
review boards with independent investigatory
authority seem to have the power to make rec-
ommendations to the chief on disposition and discipline.
FURTHER READINGS
Goldsmith, Andrew J., and Colleen Lewis. 2000. Civilian
Oversight of Policing: Governance, Democracy, and
Human Rights. Portland, Ore.: Hart Pub.
