![]() In such cases, the simple act of spotlighting a problem can have a powerful effect that leads to reform. Sometimes outmoded and abusive police practices prevail largely because no one has ever questioned them. Nonetheless, even one person, or a small group of persistent people, can make a big difference. ![]() And even after citizen action has won reforms, your community must keep the pressure on through monitoring and oversight to ensure that the reforms are actually implemented. You must not expect too much of any one remedy because no single remedy will cure the problem. To fight police abuse effectively, you must have realistic expectations. Today, among both police officials and rank and file officers, it is widely recognized that police brutality hinders good law enforcement. Some reforms do work, and some types of abuse have been reduced. The battle against police abuse must, therefore, be fought primarily on the local level. There are shortcomings, too, in federal law itself, which does not permit "pattern and practice" lawsuits. While some federal statutes specify criminal penalties for willful violations of civil rights and conspiracies to violate civil rights, the United States Department of Justice has been insufficiently aggressive in prosecuting cases of police abuse. Yet it must be fought locally: the nation's 19,000 law enforcement agencies are essentially independent. The problem is national: no police department in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct. It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication. And it is to those efforts that this manual is dedicated. Rather, it arose out of our realization that, ultimately, it will take a strong and sustained effort by community groups to bring about real and lasting reform. This manual was not inspired by, nor is it intended to generate, animosity toward the police, or to promote the perception that all police officers are prone to abuse. In communities all across the United States people have organized to bring about change, and some of the most successful strategies are described in this manual, now in its 3rd printing. The fact that police abuse remains a significant problem does not mean there has been no progress. "They saw activity that appeared inappropriate," the Bloomfield Police Chief stated. The beating was so severe that a group of Bloomfield police intervened to stop it.
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