Should police investigate themselves in shootings?

After the killings of unarmed African-Americans in Charlotte, Ferguson, Mo., and New York City, some legal experts, civil rights activists and even President Barack Obama called for law enforcement officials to consider independent criminal investigations into use of force by police.

But Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said he supports CMPD’s practice of investigating its own officers.

Murray said he is confident the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s homicide unit conducts thorough, independent probes into officer-involved shootings.

“They are the best of the best,” Murray said.

North Carolina police departments can ask the State Bureau of Investigation to look into officer-involved shootings, but Murray said agents would take longer to get to the scene and may have difficulty obtaining fresh firsthand accounts about events. He said those accounts are typically the most accurate.

Legal experts who disagree with that approach say it has negative consequences.

They said the public sees an inherent conflict of interest, especially since officers are rarely punished.

A White House task force, formed in response to a series of police shootings, recommended law enforcement agencies mandate independent investigations and independent prosecutors when police use of force results in injury or death.

Wisconsin last year passed a law requiring outside investigators look into deaths of civilians involving on-duty officers. Lawmakers in Illinois and Minnesota are considering similar legislation, according to the Council of State Governments, a Kentucky-based public policy research group.

“People are angry and not trusting the police,” said Kami Chavis Simmons, a law professor at Wake Forest University and a former federal prosecutor. “They don’t want to partner with police and prosecutors. We can’t deny anymore the racial dimension of what’s happening. We going to have to come to grips with this as a country.”

The vast majority of midsize and large departments, like CMPD, conduct criminal probes into the actions of their own officers, said Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer.

That puts district attorneys in a difficult position.

“There is a real connection between the prosecutor and the officers who investigate their cases,” Stoughton said. “They certainly rely on police agencies. The prosecutor isn’t going to want to disrupt that relationship by angering officers, lowering morale or alienating the department if they decide to pursue charges against an officer.”

Murray said his office does not hesitate to prosecute officers who break the law. He said prosecutors have charged officers in crimes such as domestic violence and fraud that receive less media attention than shootings.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Should police investigate themselves in shootings?."