Overview

There has been a considerable increase in the number of procedures involving citizen oversight of police imple- mented by cities and counties in the 1990s. However, many of these procedures have had a troubled history involving serious-even bitter-conflict among the involved parties. Citizen Review of Police: Approaches and Implementation is designed to help jurisdictions that may decide to establish-or wish to improve-an over- sight system to avoid or eliminate these battles. At the same time, the publication can help oversight planners understand and choose among the many options available for structuring a citizen review procedure. Finally, current oversight staff and volunteers may find it useful to review the publication as a way of learning more about the field.