In 2021, Philadelphia established the Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC), an independent watchdog group aimed at improving police conduct and police-community relations.
But even with this new oversight, citizen complaints regarding police misconduct still languish, taking over a year (409 days) to actually be heard, according to a new CPOC report. Back in 2017, the average wait time for processing was even longer, at 463 days.
What’s the Impact?
The new report also surveyed more than 2,000 Philadelphians, and concluded that long wait times discourage more residents from filing complaints. S/O to PhillyVoice for highlighting the results.
The numbers spoke volumes, and participants made it clear that if they know an evaluation and penalty process will take more than a year, they are more likely to skip out.
Around 4.5% of respondents said they had experienced an encounter with an officer that would qualify as misconduct. Of that number, nearly three out of four said they did not plan on doing anything about it.
