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the general public. The police commission should be able to <br /> independently investigate such charges, report its findings to <br /> the chief, and recommend appropriate disciplinary action. <br /> Disciplinary actions are controlled by civil service rules <br /> and by the collective bargaining agreement. The police <br /> commission will not have the power to impose discipline directly <br /> and so can only report its findings to the chief of police. It <br /> will then be the chief's decision to initiate disciplinary <br /> actions, if such actions are warranted by the circumstances. <br /> In order to carry out this function, the police commission <br /> must be given the power to hire an independent investigator so <br /> that it need not rely on the police to investigate the police. <br /> Also, your proposed revision would require the chief to report to <br /> the commission about disciplinary actions (or non-actions) taken <br /> by the department on cases heard by the commission. <br /> The police commission's power to investigate charges brought <br /> to it by members of the public should not be exclusive. The <br /> chief of police must retain the authority to investigate and to <br /> act on charges of police misconduct even if these are also being <br /> investigated by the commission. The commission's role is to <br /> provide an independent check on potential police misconduct. If <br /> the chief of police did not have the power to initiate <br /> disciplinary action against a police officer based on a public <br /> complaint unless the police commission first made a finding of <br /> misconduct, the chief of police would lose a great deal of <br /> authority, and the disciplinary process could become very <br /> 760 <br />