Keeping Each Other Safe

• Published date: 01 September 2017
• Date: 01 September 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1098611117710443
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Keeping Each Other

Safe: An Assessment of

The Use of Peer

Intervention Programs

to Prevent Police Officer

Mistakes and Misconduct,

Using New Orleans’

EPIC Program As A

Potential National Model

Jonathan Aronie

1

and

Christy E. Lopez

2

Abstract

This article examines the principles of ‘‘active bystandership’’ and ‘‘peer inter vention’’

and considers their application in the context of policing to prevent or mitigate police

officer mistakes or misconduct. We begin by exploring the science behind bystander-

ship and the application of the concept to solve a number of national problems in

nonpolicing contexts. We then explore the unique dynamics of policing and argue

these dynamics make active bystandership training, as part of an overarching imple-

mentation of an active bystandership ethos, critical to overcoming entrenched inhibi-

tors to peer intervention. We also discuss the significant risks to officers, agencies,

cities, and communities of not creating an ethos of active bystandership among offi-

cers. Finally, we consider the New Orleans Police Department’s implementation of a

peer intervention or active bystandership program beginning in 2015 (during which

time it was under the oversight of federal consent decree) and present some ‘‘les-

sons learned’’ from that department’s experience.

1

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Washington, DC, USA

2

Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jonathan Aronie, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite

100, Washington, DC 20006-6801, USA.

Email: jaronie@sheppardmullin.com

Police Quarterly

2017, Vol. 20(3) 295–321

!The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1098611117710443

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Keywords

consent decree, peer support, police reform

Introduction

On July 30, 2005, according to the jury findings outlined in the criminal convic-

tion, New Orleans police officer and Field Training Officer Melvin Williams beat

and kicked Raymond Robair so violently he fractured his ribs and lacerated his

spleen (Judonna Mitchell et al. v. City of New Orleans, 2016; U.S. v. Moore,

2013). Mr. Robair ultimately died at a local hospital, where Officer Williams and

his rookie partner Matthew Dean Moore dropped him off, claiming they found

him under an overpass and that he had a history of drug use but saying nothing

about the beating. According to expert testimony at the criminal trial, had the

doctors known of the blunt force trauma, Mr. Robair’s life likely would have

been saved (U.S. v. Moore, 2013). Officer Williams ultimately was convicted of

federal criminal civil rights violations resulting in Mr. Robair’s death and was

sentenced to 21 years in prison for the use of excessive force and obstruction of

justice. Rookie Moore, just 2 months out of the academy, was convicted of

obstruction and lying to the FBI, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. In

sentencing Moore, the federal judge noted he was present during the beating and

did nothing to stop it (Judonna Mitchell et al. v. City of New Orleans, 2016).

The Raymond Robair case, and many more like it across the country, trad-

itionally is portrayed as quintessential excessive use of force cases; as lessons in

the dangers of poor hiring, poor training, poor supervision, bias, or as blatant

criminal misconduct. But these cases also provide a less-talked-about illustration

of what can happen when bystander officers fail to intervene to prevent miscon-

duct by a fellow officer, that is, ‘‘passive bystandership.’’

For purposes of this manuscript, we define a bystander as a witness who is in a

position to know what is happening and is in a position to take action (Staub,

2007). A ‘‘passive bystander,’’ then, is someone who fails to take action where

the circumstances would seem to require action. While use of force, de-escalation

techniques, and other force-related topics are commonplace in police academies,

a focus on how those who witness the use of excessive force can stop or mitigate

it still is not (Attard, 2015; Staub, 2007).

The importance of peer intervention by police officers to prevent misconduct

by fellow officers as a key police reform tool recently was considered by the

President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing through testimony by the

National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement:

Police Peer Intervention is a training program that teaches, in a practical and posi-

tive way, the powerful influence that police officers have on the conduct and behav-

ior of their fellow officers. The training equips, encourages, and supports officers to

intervene and prevent their colleagues from committing acts of serious misconduct

296 Police Quarterly 20(3)