Protecting Civil Rights: 
A Leadership Guide for State, 
Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement 

Session: Policing Racial Bias: What Agencies Can Do to 
Promote Fair and Equitable Law Enforcement Practices 
International Association of Chiefs of Police 

Thursday, July, 27, 2006 from 10:30am to 11:45am 
Washington, DC 
2006 COPS Conference
 
John Markovic 


Presentation Objectives 
IACP Background 
Inspiration for Project 
Project Approach 
Overview of Publication 
- How it relates to bias-free policing 
- Understanding racial profiling in the broader 
context: Effective leadership and 
organizational management 


Introduction to the IACP 
Founded in 1893 
Membership - 20,000 members \ 89 different countries 
Goals 
- Advance the science and art of police services 
- Develop and disseminate improved administrative,
technical and operational practices and promote their use in police work; 
- Foster police cooperation and the exchange of information and experience among police administrators throughout the world; 
- Bring about recruitment and training in the police profession of qualified persons; and to 
- Encourage adherence of all police officers to high professional standards of performance and conduct 


Brief History of Project 
Started from conversations among three agencies 
- COPS Office 
- Special Litigation Section of Civil Rights Division (DOJ) 
- IACP 
Reflection on 10 years of federal consentdecrees and memorandums of understanding(MOU) 
Developing a Proactive Promising Practices
Guide for Local Law Enforcement 


Project Approach

Partnership 
 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 
-COPS Office 
-Special Litigation Section (SPL) of Civil Rights Division 
-Community Relations Services 
-Others doing similar work funded by DOJ 

IACP Standing Committees 

-Civil Rights 
-Professional Standards 

 Agencies involved in federal agreements and 
those with promising practices 
 

Project Approach 

Thoroughly examine existing federal pattern or practice consent decrees and memorandums of 
agreement 
Meetings convened in support of project 
- Project Advisory Group  Memphis kickoff (04/2004) 
- Thorough overview provided by SPL 
- Regular meeting of IACP Committees 
- Project Focus Group  Pittsburgh (04/2005) 
Attended other related meetings funded by COPS 
Review civil rights implications of advances in police practices and technology 


Early Determinations 

Learning from mistakes approach valuable, but not enough 
- Turning necessity into virtue motivation 
- Agencies recognize problems and the need for assistance 
- Engaging in constructive versus adversarial approaches 
Learning from others 
- Promising Practices 
- Promote reform from within 
 .Agency being investigated/under agreement 
 .Profession 


Overview of Publication 

Eight Chapters 
- Introduction 
- Sustaining Community Outreach and Engagement:
The Intersection of Civil Rights and Community Policing 
- Developing and Early Intervention Strategy 
- Managing the Complaint Process 
- Managing Use of Force 
- Addressing Racial Profiling: Creating a Comprehensive Commitment of Bias-Free Policing 
- Personnel Management Issues (in civil rights context) 
- Data Management Issues (in civil rights context) 


Interdependence of Issues
 
[P]olice chiefs must know that the concepts of 
community policing and the concepts of 
protecting human and civil rights are inseparable. 
They are one and the same. And for law 
enforcement you cant have one without the 
other. 

Chief Charles Gruber, South Barrington (Illinois) Police 
Department 


Interdependence of Issues

A chart showing racial profiling issues and their connection with various city/states


Understanding Racial Profiling in 
the Broader Context 

Systemic Approach 
- Not to be treated as an isolated problem to be proved 
or disproved 
- Understood in context of organization 
.Organizational culture, ethics, and missions 
.Accountability mechanisms 
.Police leaders influence on the above 
- Notes on terminology 
.Racial Profiling vs. Bias-Based Policing vs. focus 
on positive Bias-Free Policing 


Understanding Racial Profiling in 
the Broader Context 

Practical Realizations 
- Strategies for managing the issue go beyond data collection and numbers crunching 
- An issue that will affect most departments, whether racial profiling is real or perceived 
- Better to take proactive rather than reactive approach 
- Community outreach as money in the bank 
- Assessed at various units of analysis 
- More than traffic stops, also pedestrian stops 
- Also should address equality of service 


Practical Examples from Chapters 

Civilian Complaint Process 
- Major source of information for individual 
complaints of racial profiling 
.Complaints should not only be treated as individual 
allegations to be adjudicated 
.Problem-solving approach 
- Data-driven management 
- Cross-validate stop data or survey data 


Practical Examples from Chapters 

Early Intervention Strategies 
- Opportunity to address disproportionalities at 
individual or unit level 
- Early identification and intervention before patterns 
set in 
- Peer-based analysis of stop data can be incorporated 
into the early intervention strategy 
- Early intervention must be coupled with sound 
supervision and contextual assessment 


Practical Examples from Chapters 

Personnel Practices 
- Strategic recruitment strategies to establish and 
maintain a department that reflects the community it 
serves 
- Screening-in for characteristics that are consistent 
with civil rights protections, service orientation, and 
bias-free policing 
- Retention matters; rewarding those with commitment 
to bias-free policing 
- Interdependence between perceptions of fair and 
equitable policing and recruitment 


Leadership Guide 
Selected Recommendations 

SYSTMATIC APPROACH: Reinforce commitment to 
bias-free policing throughout agency culture 
- Embed the ideals within the departments mission 
statement 
- Develop a clear and unequivocal policy prohibiting 
racial profiling 
- Consistently stress the benefits of bias free policing in 
training at the academy, during field training, and in-
service training 


Leadership Guide 
Recommendations 

ACCONTABILITY AND ETHICS: Strict Adherence to Legal and Professional Standards 
- Departmental policy must, at the very least, be consistent with all laws and professional standards applicable to its jurisdiction. 
- Department policies should be both prescriptive and proscriptive 
 .Stress the benefits of bias-free police 
 .Define racial profiling and unequivocally state departments intolerance 
 IACP advocates a narrow use of race/ethnicity as basis of police activity -- under be on the look out (BOLO)
circumstances 


Leadership Guide 
Recommendations 

Personnel Practices 
- Establish and sustain a diverse police force 
reflective of the community it serves 
- Pay attention to bias-free policing as part of the 
recruitment and screening-in process 
- Use early intervention strategies to identify and 
remedy signs of problems before they turn into 
legal and disciplinary issues 


Leadership Guide 
Recommendations 

Training 
- Develop comprehensive and meaning 
training programs 
- Rely on interactive and scenario based 
training programs 


Leadership Guide 
Recommendations 

Community Outreach 
- Community outreach programs will often 
raise issues of disproportionality 
- Create an atmosphere promote a dialogue 
about data and findings in context 
- Understanding the value of engaging 
community stakeholders 


Leadership Guide 
Recommendations 

Data Driven Management (short of specific racial 
profiling data collection) 
- Assess racial profiling complaint data from a 
management perspective, not just as 
isolated cases to be adjudicated 
- Use community surveys and analyze along 
critical 


Mapping and Police Contact Data

map of Use of Force Incidents and Violent Crime Patterns for Calendar Year 2004

The gunfire next door: In 'hot spots' of violence, residents feel trapped, afraid
Boston Globe July 21, 2006


Racial Profiling Data 
Capacities and Limitations 

Recognize the value of data for 
establishing community dialogue 
Unit of analysis issues 
- Agency-level analysis often emphasized 
- Stress that data has value for assessing 
individuals or units statistical outliers 


Racial Profiling Data 
Capacities and Limitations 

State 'racial profiling' statistics are meaningless 
Bloomington-Normal (IL) Pantagraph Editorial July 13, 2006 

State study shows racial profiling down slightly in 2005 
Chicago Defender July 13, 2006 

No racial profiling in Glencoe 
Pioneer Press (IL) July 20, 2006 


Key Principles 

Fair and equitable policing must be an agency-
wide and comprehensive endeavor 
The components to ensure fair and equitable 
policing are interdependent; they cannot be 
assessed in isolation 
Solutions must address multiple-levels of 
analysis 
Fair and equitable policing achieved by 
creating a culture of ethics combined with 
sound accountability 


Why Protect Civil Rights 

It is the right thing to do! 
- An obligation under the U.S. Constitution 
- Consistent with oath of office 

Failure to do results in liability 
- Loss of legitimacy, trust, and cooperation of 
community 
- Results financial losses from lawsuits 

Consistent with the principles of community 
policing 


Contact Information 
John Markovic 
Program Manager 
International Association of Chiefs of Police 
(IACP) 
703-836-6767 or 1-800-843-4227, Ext. 801 
markovic@theiacp.org 
www.theiacp.org