Citizen oversight in the United States and Canada : applying outcome measures and evidence-based concepts

Democratic governments empower the police to regulate the conduct of citizens and to protect their rights. Citizens also expect officers to respond to their needs in a skilled and professional manner. When allegations of excessive force, racism, and other forms of misconduct and corruption surface, citizens question the foundation on which the police authority is based and departments’ abilities to control the actions of their own officers. For many, even the courts and politicians have failed at deterring officers from engaging in proscriptive behaviors, especially those that violate the welfare and safety of the public (Punch, 2009). To address these shortcomings, stakeholders have called for citizen oversight agencies to investigate and adjudicate claims of police misconduct and corruption.