The U.S. Department of Justice detailed plans Thursday for its review of the Chester Police Department, one set to be the first fully independent and robust evaluation in the force's history.
The federal probe comes at a time when Chester police and residents in the troubled Delaware County municipality have continually found themselves at odds. Some members of the 33,000-person community have denounced the department for using what they claim is too much force.
Chester police, in turn, have found it increasingly difficult to keep peace in a four-square-mile city notorious for violence.
The review seeks to present the first critical look at the department and its 94 full-time officers.
Yet the probe is voluntary -- initiated by the City of Chester -- and as a result, few mechanisms exist to ensure recommendations from the Justice Department are implemented.
Called a "collaborative review process," the probe comes from the department's Office of Community Oriented Policing services. During a two-year period, federal officials will evaluate Chester in five areas: officer-involved shootings, community policing, building trust, employee development and data analysis.
Eleven other police departments around the country have undergone a similar voluntary probe, including Philadelphia, which began one in 2013.
The review differs from a full-scale "pattern-or practice" investigation that police departments such as Baltimore and Ferguson have undergone. There, the Justice Department's Office for Civil Rights can force a department to comply with the recommendations. No such enforcement-power exists during collaborative reform.
Yet Justice Department officials said enforcement of recommendations has not been a problem in other cities that have undergone a similar review.
Federal officials will return to Chester on June 16 to collect feedback from residents about policing at a public forum.
(c)2016 The Philadelphia Inquirer
