Bocar Abdoulaye Ba and Roman Rivera write:

Minneapolis citizens had already put the city’s police department on notice that Derek Chauvin, the officer charged with second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd, might be dangerous. Over his 18-year career, they lodged at least 17 complaints against him, but none resulted in meaningful discipline. Chauvin’s example mirrors a pattern seen in earlier prominent police killings — such as the murder by Jason Van Dyke of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, in Chicago — in which officers with a history of abusive behavior were nonetheless allowed to continue interacting with the public.

Why don’t police take complaints seriously? And what can be done to make complaint systems work better?

Research we conducted with the journalism organization the Invisible Institute suggests that ignoring complaints — even multiple complaints about one officer — is not the exception but the norm in police departments. To explore the question, our team assembled, analyzed and made freely available an interactive data tool on Chicago Police Department officers’ misconduct and use of force that draws upon nearly 250,000 individual complaints from 1988 to 2020. We found that only 3 percent of civilian complaints alleging improper use of force resulted in officer discipline.

The complaints against police were fairly concentrated — 10 percent of officers are responsible for roughly a third of complaints; two-thirds of complaints involved officers with at least 10 recorded complaints against them. One Chicago officer had a disciplinary record including 49 complaints of excessive use of force over a 20-year period, yet none led to any recorded disciplinary action. [Continue reading…]