The Citizen’s Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) is excited to share Part 2 of our Collaborative Review and Reform of the PPD Police Board of Inquiry. Part 1 of this report was released in 2021, at a critical time for policing and police oversight in Philadelphia. Two years later, the relationship between the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) and the public continues to evolve, and residents are still looking for increased police accountability.
Part 1 of the Collaborative Reform and Review of the PPD Police Board of Inquiry resulted in major reforms to the police officers’ union (Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP) contract to allow for civilian staff from CPOC to review discipline charges, sit as adjudicators on PBI panels, and for civilians attorneys (rather than PPD staff) to administratively prosecute discipline cases. Any one of these changes would have represented a major reform to the PPD disciplinary process, but to accomplish this much progress was an important achievement for CPOC and PPD. These reforms show that with commitment and collaboration, real changes that improve police accountability are possible.
CPOC is proud of the unprecedented progress that has been made in collaboration with the PPD. There is still work to be done; long-established processes at large institutions such as the PPD are not transformed overnight, and CPOC looks forward to continuing the reform process through the new recommendations in this follow-up report. CPOC and PPD will continue to assess PBI operations to increase fairness, transparency and accountability in the discipline process for officers and civilians.
This ongoing project represents the type of oversight work that CPOC will continue to pursue throughout the expansion of the agency: data-driven, collaborative, and most importantly, effective.
Read the Collaborative Review and Reform of the PPD Police Board of Inquiry Part 2 Report: here
Download Updates Explainer, Charging Updates Explainer, New Recommendations Explainer and PPD Misconduct Flowchart
Read the Collaborative Review and Reform of the PPD Police Board of Inquiry Part 1 Report: here