Dangerous
Trends Toward Civilian Police Review Boards
For nearly 50 years, a deadly and
effective attack has been orchestrated against local police departments all
throughout the United States
and most Americans do not even realize it is happening. The very organizations
which are to provide front-line protection against lawlessness in our
communities are being targeted. The reason: to neutralize the ability of the
local police to identify and intercede criminals and terrorists who would
disrupt our peaceful communities. This in turn would lead to the dissolution of
strong local self-government, which is the cornerstone of our republican form
of government in the United
States.
"Another
Police-Involved Shooting"
Any time a police officer is
involved in a shooting, the headlines writers scream out "Another
police-involved shooting has taken place!" It gives one the feeling that
the police should be the last people to use weapons, if at all. Nothing is said
about the thousands of incidents police are confronted with daily where no
weapons are used. Calls for investigations immediately follow and some citizens
and lawyers smell lawsuits in the making. Closely behind these incidents are
cries from liberal organizations and politicians that a group of untrained civilians
should be brought in to investigate and review these cases of police activity.
These are called Civilian Police Review Boards. Such is the case facing my city
of Mesa, Arizona,
now the 40 th largest city in the nation.
Civilian Police Review
Board Prohibited by City Charter
Fortunately, it won't be very easy
to do. In 1967, a 14-member Board of Freeholders was assembled to write the
City Charter. Serving on that board was Louis Stradling, a student of
constitutional government for many decades. He had made a study of those who
want to weaken local police in America
and was instrumental in having the following words inserted into the City
Charter: "A civilian Police Review Board is prohibited by this
charter." Since then, the wisdom of that move become apparent. Because of
recent unfortunate shootings in our city and the renewed call for civilian
Police Review Board, I asked Mr. Stradling where he obtained his background
information in 1967. He reminded me that W. Cleon Skousen had just published a
book on that subject in 1966!
Subversives Invent the
Concept of Civilian Police Review Boards
Of course, our own Dr. Skousen is
eminently qualified to write about this subject. He spent 16 years with the FBI
where he had assignments directly from J. Edgar Hoover to help local police
establish training academies. Mr. Hoover asked him to research subversive
organizations and activities. Dr. Skousen served as Chief of Police of a major
city and editorial director of LAW and ORDER, the most widely distributed police
magazine in the United
States. Time magazine said he had "run
a model police force." His accumulated wisdom was compiled in his book
Notes to the New Chief which many new police chiefs used to get a jump start in
their duties.
Here are excerpts from Dr. Skousen's
1966 writings on the present subject:
"It was during this same
visit to New York
that I spoke at length with Dr. Bella Dodd, former member of the National
Committee of the Communist Party who defected in 1948. During this conversation
I brought up the subject of police review boards and she stated that she was
appalled at the success of the Communist Party and its cadre of fellow
travelers in persuading New York
politicians to accept the idea of a civilian police review board. I asked her
how the idea originated and she said it was invented by the Communist Party in
the 1930's when it was felt that the country was ripe for revolution. The idea
was to somehow get the police out from under the control of elected officials
and subject the police to the discipline of a "civilian" group which
the Party could infiltrate and control. She stated that by this means they
intended to mete out harsh and arbitrary punishment against the police until
they were intimidated into a benumbed, neutralized, impotent and
non-functioning agency.
Why the Demand for Civilian
Review Boards Caught On
"The hate campaign against
the police was a natural for Communist and left-wing propaganda purposes.
Because the police are the authoritative symbol of law and order the American
public is extremely sensitive to the slightest hint that they may be abusing
their power. This is a healthy situation so long as the public is getting the
true facts, but what happens when the people are fed a continuous and heavy
propaganda diet of deliberate lies? Unfortunately, experience has proven that
they are just as damaging on a temporary basis as though they were true.
"Not only is public
confidence shaken in the police by the poisonous hate campaign and the
deliberate lies, but there is also the occasional incident when some police
officer actually does use bad judgment. Whenever this happens the
Communist-left-wing coalition snatches it up and joyfully proceeds to paint a
grossly exaggerated version of the incident and present it to the public as
being typical of all police. This is offered as proof positive that a band of
uniformed blackguards are brutalizing the whole community and the only way to
protect the public from their sadistic savagery is to immediately set up a
civilian police review board.
"In such an
emotionally-charged atmosphere it is easy for Professional politicians to
suddenly decide that here is a wonderful campaign issue which could be made
highly popular. They therefore seize upon the idea of a civilian review board
and start blowing the Communist trumpet louder than the Communists themselves.
This happened in the New York City
mayoralty campaign during 1965. Even in the primaries, every single candidate
came out for a civilian review board except one, William Buckley.
"Of course, the whole basis
for the argument that civilian review boards should be set up is the rather
fantastic illusion that (1) there is widespread police brutality, and (2) a
civilian review board is the only way the people can protect themselves from
police brutality.
"They keep missing the point
that when these wild charges are carefully investigated by the FBI or other
responsible agencies they do, with very rare exceptions, turn out to be
deliberate fabrications.
"They also overlook the fact
that every incorporated community and every county government in the United
States already has elaborate machinery available -- both administrative and
judicial -- to deal with any instances of abusive or illegal police activity.
Citizen Talking Points
Against Civilian Police Review Boards
"The legal basis for such
boards is lacking . The Supreme Court of New York recently held that the city
of Rochester
had no authority to compel policemen to undergo a judicial review of their
conduct by a group of private citizens.
"No proof of any need for
such a board : Elaborate legal machinery already exists for the channeling of
complaints against the police. These include the police chief (who has more
reason than anyone to ferret out any irregularities in his department), the civilian
police commissioner (whose job was originally created to receive complaints
from the public), the members of the city council, the mayor, the city
attorney, the district attorney, the U.S. Attorney, the FBI, the grand jury and
the Federal Grand Jury. All of these have remedial jurisdiction over charges of
civil rights violations by police. Long ago it was claimed that local officials
would cover up these violations but no such excuse can be used today because
for several years charges of police brutality have been within the jurisdiction
of the FBI and subject to Federal prosecution.
"These boards are conducive
to the intimidation of police personnel : Because the power to discipline is
the power to control, the Civilian Review Board takes the police department out
from under the people's elected representatives and places them under a
politically oriented and often biased group of lay people who neither know nor
understand police problems. During the 1964 riots FBI investigators discovered
that departments under Civilian Review Boards were so fearful of reprisal in
case they took action where certain minority groups were involved that they
were virtually paralyzed. As J. Edgar Hoover reported: "Where there is an
outside civilian review board the restraint of the police was so great that
effective action against the rioters appeared to be impossible."
"Police subjected to double
jeopardy : In Philadelphia, the first city to try a Civilian Review Board, it
was found that even after an officer had been cleared by the courts of an
offense, the review board continued to harass the officer and threaten him with
penalization.
"Civilian Review Board idea
originally created to subvert U.S.
police . It is obvious that the removal of the police from the discipline and
control of the city's elected representatives and making them subservient to a
small group of private citizens creates a perfect setup for any subversive
group desiring to infiltrate the Review Board and intimidate the police.
Therefore, as Dr. Bella Dodd, former national officer of the Communist Party,
has pointed out, the whole idea of setting up Civilian Review Boards was
invented by the Communist Party three decades ago. Their object, she says, was
to gain control of the police and paralyze them when riots and violence were
instigated. And as J. Edgar Hoover has already indicated, this is exactly what
happens.
"Motives of those now
promoting Civilian Review Boards are highly questionable . The American Civil
Liberties Union which is waging a nationwide campaign to place the police under
Civilian Review Boards has been investigated many times for suspected
subversive activities. And while the ACLU has never been proven to be under the
discipline of the Communist Party per se, its director from 1920 to 1940 was
Harry F. Ward who has been identified by former leaders of the Communist Party
as a member. A Federal legislative committee reported, "The American Civil
Liberties Union is closely affiliated with the Communist movement in the United States,
and fully 90% of its efforts are on behalf of communists who come into
difficulty with the law." The California Senate Fact Finding Committee
supported this estimate of "90%" and said, "The American Civil
Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a communist front or 'Transmission
Belt' organization." (These and other citations on ACLU are quoted with
original sources in The California Peace Officer, November-December, 1960, in
an article entitled "Police Review Board," by Norman H. Moore.)
"J. Edgar Hoover has issued a
warning against Civilian Review Boards : In the January 1, 1965, issue of the
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, J. Edgar Hoover wrote: "When carefully
considered, it is clear this drive for external boards is an ill-advised
maneuver. It amounts to the usurpation of authority rightfully belonging to the
police commander. It is a practice which could damage effective law enforcement
and reduce the orderly processes of community life to petty bickering,
suspicion, and hatred."
"Advocates of Civilian Review
Boards deliberately misrepresent facts on police brutality : In an article
entitled, "Police Brutality, Fact or Fiction," U.S. News & World
Report, September 6, 1965, gives the results of a national survey:
"Diligent inquiry on the part of staff members ... has failed to turn up
evidence of any 'wave' of brutality on the part of police toward citizens in
the cities of the United States. What research does reveal is that civilian
'brutality' against the police is being practiced rather widely. Federal Bureau
of Investigation statistics show that 57 officers were murdered in line of duty
last year. Eighteen thousand policemen were assaulted, resulting in injuries to
7,700 of them." (W. Cleon Skousen, The Communist Attack on U.S. Police ,
Ensign Publishing, 1966)
Today, the players have changed
and the labels have changed, but the intent and the tactics are still the same.
Perhaps the best action concerned citizens can do is to organize a Support Your
Local Police Committee to make sure the truth is always available to citizens
and to have a Police Appreciation Week in the community. We must remind
ourselves that local law enforcement is the only thing that stands between us
and devastating, brutal anarchy.
Sincerely,
Earl Taylor, Jr.
