Police departments across Pennsylvania have a new law to enforce. This law is a little different than most. It is one they will have to enforce against themselves.
It requires police departments to participate in a database that keeps track of complaints and misconduct allegations against officers. The goal is to keep a problem officer from switching departments and starting over — avoiding consequences and spreading complications.
It is the kind of response that seems very in keeping with a post-George Floyd world. The protests of Floyd’s 2020 murder during an interaction with Minneapolis police prompted worldwide attention.
But the legislation behind the database is older. It dates to the 2018 shooting of Antwon Rose II, who was killed by former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld after a traffic stop following a drive-by shooting.
Rosfeld was acquitted of criminal homicide in Rose’s death in 2019.
The new law doesn’t just govern what must be reported. It also dictates that the database be consulted as part of background checking a new hire.
This ties back to cases like that of Rosfeld, who was new to the now-defunct East Pittsburgh department after having left the University of Pittsburgh police. But he left the Pitt police after a suspension and pending termination.
It is possible that the database could be divisive for some. The push for police reform nationwide has prompted backlash from pro-police quarters.
But this comprehensive record-keeping system, if used correctly, could benefit the police and the public.
It is in the best interest of police officers to have a reliable method of keeping track of disciplinary measures across departments. Think of the way state bar associations or medical boards can track complaints against lawyers, doctors or nurses, or the way a restaurant or nursing home’s health department inspections are kept on file.
Pennsylvania is also a lead example of what happens when a problem is moved from location to location. If the state was disgusted when priests accused of misconduct were moved from one parish to another, the same should hold true with other professions — especially law enforcement.
Good police officers and those who support them should wholeheartedly embrace the database as a way to safeguard the people who safeguard the community.
— The Tribune-Review, Greensburg/TNS
