Ahh, but, Erik, In Minneapolis, the Mayor retains authority over the police department, one of the several positions he oversees. This is far different from a civilian review board which should be designed - but never is, given police politics - to review only complaints against officers that are not sustained by the Internal Affairs Unit. The day-today oversight remains in the Mayor's office.
In both Minneapolis and St. Paul charters, police chiefs (and fire chiefs) receive terms-certain (in St. Paul, it's six years, overlapping 4-year mayoral terms, theoretically to insulate the police and fire functions from politics. Actually, those arrangements have been to the detriment of communities wanting greater control over the police and fire functions, more accountability from both. Chiefs should be, as are all other department heads, selected and retained at the will and pleasure of the Mayor(s). Absent that, Mayors and Councilmembers cannot be held accountable for renegade cops, firefighters and chiefs, and they should be. This is not good government. In any event, one of the few truly powerful oversight responsibilities the Mayor has is the selection of the chief and oversight of the cops. As for the Council(s), they still have advise and consent authority, another critical role in the balance of power. Andy Driscoll Saint Paul -------- > From: Erik Hare <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 12:43:01 -0600 (CST) > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: Minneapolis Issues <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: MPD: Mpls Mayor wants to micro-manage police dept > > > On Fri, 19 Dec 2003, Andy Driscoll wrote: > >> The police department of any city is in desperate need of oversight from >> elected officials. > > In general, I agree with Andy on this point. The need for civilian > oversight is glaring and obvious. The department has had plenty of > opportunity to reform itself, and failed utterly. > >> It's the mayor's job to ride herd on the cops. > > This is where I'm concerned. Certainly, the inability (or lack of > interest) of the council in providing for a real civilian review board has > been a major problem. And in a weak mayor system, what ultimately can the > mayor do? > > Let's say that the new chief is picked on the willingness to be Rybak's > "boy". Even if that is the case, how long will the politics of the > situation allow such a chief to continue to be under the thumb of the > mayor? If a chief was openly the mayor's choice, how much would that > chief be undermined immediately? > > The weak mayor system puts all responsibility like this ultimately with > the council. Certainly, Rybak should try his best and hope for either > support or at least an abstention from the council. But the power game > aspect of it alone makes this sound very unlikely to me. > > Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://tcfreenet.org/people/hare > Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth > > Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com > > > > > > MN-POLITICS-DISCUSS http://www.e-democracy.org/mn-politics/ is a CIVIL > discussion of Minnesota public issues and politics. > ----------------------- > > > **** Don't like E-Democracy's rules? You have alternatives: > http://www.e-democracy.org/mninteract **** > ---------------------------- > > Messages (text-only, no attachments) are to be signed with your full real > name, city and e-mail address. No member may post more than twice a day. > > Moderator/Discussion Rules Manager: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --------- > To unsubscribe to MN-Politics-Discuss send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To receive daily digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For the list to retain its value, and to show respect for your fellow list > members, please keep a Minnesota focus on your posts. Thanks. > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mn-politics-discuss/ > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
