Philadelphia’s CPOC Unit Conducts Real-Time Audits of Police Misconduct Investigations to Boost Accountability and Transparency

In Philadelphia, oversight of law enforcement is taking a proactive turn with the Citizens Police Oversight Commission’s (CPOC) Auditing and Monitoring Unit taking action. The unit, as detailed in a recent report by the City of Philadelphia, has started conducting real-time audits of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) misconduct investigations performed by the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) since July 2024.

The Auditing and Monitoring Unit’s tasks include ensuring that the police are held accountable and that investigations are fair, complete, and impartial, as the City of Philadelphia has emphasized. Between July and September, they completed 85 audits, providing feedback in 59 cases and a total of 155 individual recommendations. However, there were cases – 15 out of 85, to be exact, that didn’t meet the 90-day deadline set for investigations, though the delays were reportedly justified.

When it comes to accountability, body camera footage proves vital. The City of Philadelphia’s report found that 37 instances out of 85 did not have such footage. In cases where footage was available, discrepancies were noted in 11 out of 48 summaries of the footage. This highlights a crucial oversight challenge for these audits but also underscores the importance of this technological tool for transparency.

Moreover, according to the report, 52% of the cases failed to address all allegations or violations. This finding is critical because CPOC’s mission, is to ensure that no complaint goes unchecked, and that every aspect of police conduct is scrutinized. The Auditing and Monitoring Unit aims to keep the community informed by sharing insights during public meetings.

The ultimate goal of these endeavors is transparency and the improvement of policing practices. With this data-driven approach, CPOC hopes to provide actionable insights to IAD that may refine the way law enforcement interacts with the citizens of Philadelphia.

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