Police Reform: Federal monitor


With a long string of questionable uses of force and huge payouts to settle brutality lawsuits, the Vallejo Police Department might look to nearby Oakland for one approach to achieving better, more accountable policing: a court-appointed monitor. In Oakland, a monitor since 2003 has had the authority of a judge's order behind him as he and a staff oversee the city's use of force, handling of complaints, training, and other operations. The costly process is not without critics, nor is the Oakland department trouble-free. But some see the monitor as a force for positive change after a period of corruption.

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