Philadelphia Police Department’s holding place of choice for officers deemed unfit for street duty because of pending criminal charges or a checkered past — assigned to work in the midst of a highly sensitive, federally funded, Homeland Security intelligence-sharing center — has come under fire, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross defended the practice, which has been in place since 2012, as an “efficient” use of the officers, who, he said, “work under stringent supervision, and have no access to data or information systems.” Over the years, the department has assigned problematic officers to the impound lot, a check-in room for officers testifying in court and an office answering calls about minor traffic accidents. According to Ross, the Real Time Camera Center, which monitors surveillance cameras throughout the city, was added to the list seven years ago. University of Nebraska Omaha criminal justice professor Samuel Walker called the practice risky, saying placing such officers in places “where they can do the least possible harm” wouldn’t ideally include proximity to a camera-monitoring room. Mary Catherine Roper, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, agreed. “This is the last place you should put an officer who has been credibly accused of lying or tampering with evidence or abusing people’s rights,” Roper said. “I would rather have them do nothing.”