Donna Reed Miller to chair police misconduct hearings

Are police getting out of hand? The councilwoman for Chestnut HIll, Mt Airy, Germantown and Nicetown says there are enough claims that council should look into it. 

Following recent allegations of police brutality, Philadelphia City Council will hold a hearing on police conduct.

8th District (Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy & Germantown) Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller said she called for the hearings to examine what she calls a possible rise in police officer conduct that is questionable and potentially damaging to the reputation and integrity of the department.

“We’re not trying to have some kind of circus, we just want to understand what is going on. Certainly there are problems in certain districts, there are more problems in certain districts than there are in others. It’s time, we’ve gotten a lot of requests to have a hearing and it’s just time to do it.”

The councilwoman said she expects people who say police overstepped their bounds will be available to testify at the hearing. Philadelphia Police spokesman Lieutenant Ray Evers says the department has no information about any uptick in problems with police and the public.

“There is no increase of complaints against police officers since 2004 and I’m looking at the numbers through 2010.”