Newark’s New Disciplinary Board Could Control And Limit Police
By Daniel Ross in Yes! Magazine - Just over a year ago, Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill black man, was shot and killed by two LAPD officers in South Los Angeles. Ford was unarmed, though the officers involved insist that a struggle had occurred between one of the officers and Ford prior to the shooting.
After a lengthy investigation, the Los Angeles Police Commission—a five-member civilian review board that oversees the LAPD—determinedin June of this year that one of the officers was wrong to draw his weapon and open fire. But because LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has final say over disciplinary matters, it is possible that he could refrain from meting out any punishment to the officers involved—something that has happened multiple times before. These situations have led to heated disagreementsbetween Beck and the Commission about his lack of punitive action in cases where the board has determined wrongdoing by an officer.