As reported in the DCIST, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has introduced a bill largely drawn from recommendations by the D.C. Police Reform Commission, though the bill tackles only a small portion of the commission’s 90 recommendations.
The bill would create a new deputy D.C. auditor for public safety position and strengthen the independent Office of Police Complaints, which investigates individual complaints against police officers and recommends training and policy changes to the department.
The most significant change would deal with police disciplinary records, which are now shielded from public disclosure. The bill would make the records eligible for release under public records requests, and also mandate that MPD create a database of disciplinary records, commendations and awards, and trainings for individual officers.