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Much of the oversight power for police departments and sheriff departments is with local government.

For example, in Michigan, the elected officials that oversee police departments in cities are City Councils (in weak Mayor systems) and Mayors (in strong Mayor systems). In counties, the elected officials that oversee sheriff departments are the County Sheriff and County Commission.

Example Policies

Example Websites dedicated to police reform

What policies or ordinances can be enacted by these bodies that would work toward better policing? Are there organizations that have local government specific policy suggestions?

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  • Please define better for the purposes of this question. – Azor Ahai -him- Aug 31 '20 at 14:34
  • @Azor - I've made the question more specific. – Cardi DeMonaco Jr Aug 31 '20 at 17:01
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    Things that come to my layman mind include: police/citizen review boards, opening up police records like they do criminal records, eliminating bail for petty offenses, running a police complaint hotline, publishing arrest and pullover stats, expanding "shadow a cop" programs, gathering testimonials from folks helped by police, requiring cops to live in-jurisdiction, banning tasers in non-life-threatening situations, mandating cross-training with EMT and FD, holding fun events near/by police stations, and holding public Q+A sessions with chiefs and sheriffs at normally-scheduled meetings. – dandavis Aug 31 '20 at 19:37
  • Almost everything? It seems to me this is a self-answered question considering the examples given... (Maybe you'd like to focus just on your last sub-question? " Are there organizations that have local government specific policy suggestions?") – Fizz Sep 1 '20 at 0:00
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    I asked this question because there is a question about what can be done at the federal level, but there was no local level question. – Cardi DeMonaco Jr Sep 1 '20 at 12:50