Public Complaints Against the Police: A View from Complainants

Steven R. Hewitt teaches history at the University of Saskatchewan.

In the past two decades, demands for greater police accountability have
grown in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Such images
as the videotape of Los Angeles police officers using Rodney King as a
punching bag have fueled the forces of change. But what is the best
method for making the police accountable? One model for dealing with
complaints against the police has been Metropolitan Toronto’s Office
of Police Complaints Commissioner. This book explores the success of
that review body from the perspective of those making the complaints.
Interviews with a number of complainants constitute the most interesting
section of an occasionally tedious book. Ultimately, Landau finds great
dissatisfaction with the process, chiefly with the fact that the review
body is not free of the police force. Despite being too brief, this
study is an important part of a continuing debate.