Much of the recent outrage about police violence directed against the black community is about the lack of consequences for the culpable officers. For many, assertions that the circumstances of certain police crimes don’t satisfy legal requirements for prosecuting the officers provide little comfort in the face of what sometimes seems like a calculated campaign of racial violence by the law enforcement community.
In addition, any perception by the law enforcement community that officers can engage in misconduct with impunity does little to deter these crimes.
The killing of Aura Rosser, a black woman in Ann Arbor, prompts the ACLU of Michigan to call for an independent prosecutor system for Michigan. The police account of Ms. Rosser’s death highlights the issue.
Police claim Ms. Rosser approached two officers with a raised knife. Both officers confronted the same threat at the same time, but one officer responded with less than deadly force (a taser) and the other officer responded with deadly force (a firearm).
Who makes the call whether deadly force was an appropriate response, or whether instead it was excessive and deserving of criminal prosecution?
Local prosecutors may be fully capable of objectivity in these cases, but their close relationship—even dependence upon the goodwill of local police—can create conflicts of interest, or at least the appearance of unfairness.
That’s why a prosecutor without local ties should be brought in right from the start. A prosecutor should be in the position of evaluating the facts and making a decision about criminal charges without worrying about whether a decision to charge an officer with a crime will lead to other officers’ non-cooperation in other cases where their testimony is vital.
The ACLU of Michigan proposes the selection of a statewide panel of prosecutors who will be on-call to serve as independent prosecutors whenever police-involved killings and other crimes outside of their home counties occur. A member of the panel can be selected to investigate and make charging decisions without being influenced, or perceived as being influenced by local pressures.
Independent prosecutors may not be the solution, but it is hoped that they will at least increase the likelihood that when an officer commits a crime, he or she, like the rest of us must do the time.
By Mark Fancher, Racial Justice Project staff attorney