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MothersAgainstPoliceBrutality

@fightingmothers

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Mothers Against Police Brutality is the voice for justice for victims of police brutality and deadly force. #MAPB

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An officer doesn't have to be fired to stay in the job, and being fired doesn't always end a career.

Some officers are never removed, no matter how many complaints pile up. Some are fired and then reinstated through arbitration or a civil service appeal. Some are fired or forced out and hired by another department.

Most officers who commit misconduct are never fired at all, so the ones who "wander" are only the part we can see.

#MAPB #MothersAgainstPoliceBrutality #PoliceAccountability #WanderingOfficers Blue graphic with bold black text reading Three ways an officer keeps the badge, followed by Kept, Brought back, Moved on, and Who decides? And who checks? by @fightingmothers

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3 hours ago

New federal Medicaid restrictions have already stripped health coverage from hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants, including refugees and survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. It’s part of broader changes projected to leave 7.5 million fewer people with health insurance.

What does that have to do with police brutality?

When people lose access to care, their health needs don’t disappear. They go untreated until they become emergencies. And in most of this country, when someone is in a mental health crisis, the response that shows up is armed police.

A 2015 Treatment Advocacy Center report found that people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians. Newer data shows that pattern holds. According to Mapping Police Violence, in 2025:

🔹 About 1 in 5 people killed by police showed signs of mental illness
🔹 1 in 10 police killings began as a mental health or welfare check

Many of those calls started with someone asking for help.

Cutting health care doesn’t make crises go away. It hands more of them to police, and every one of those calls is a chance for a health emergency to end in a death.

Health care is public safety.

Sources: Associated Press; Treatment Advocacy Center; Mapping Police Violence 2025 Year-End Report AP news webpage screenshot with navigation links “Sign in” and “Donate” and section labels “Immigration,” “Rural divide,” and “AP Exclusive.” The Politics headline reads: “Trump’s Medicaid cuts strip refugees and other legal immigrants of their health coverage.” by @fightingmothers

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19 hours ago

Oversight can only act on the officers a department still employs. But what happens when an officer is fired in one place and applies in another? It happens, and it's what we're digging into next. So, what should a department be required to check before hiring someone with a misconduct history? What should happen to that officer's record? Tell us what you think, and tell us if you've seen it happen near you. Bold black text on a yellow background reads: “An officer is fired for misconduct What should the next department have to check before hiring them?” by @fightingmothers

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2 days ago

If you had two minutes at a city council meeting, what would you want to know about how your police department is overseen? Maybe who the oversight body answers to, what it's allowed to see, or what happens when it finds a problem. Share your question below, and we may feature the ones that come up most. Bright pink graphic with large white text asking: What’s the first question you’d ask your city council about police oversight? by @fightingmothers

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3 days ago

Public comment is short, and so is this script. Say who you are, ask the questions that matter, and ask for the answer in writing. If you try it, tell us how it went.

#MAPB #MothersAgainstPoliceBrutality #PoliceAccountability #CivilianOversight by @fightingmothers

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3 days ago

Whether your city has a board, a monitor, or nothing at all, these three questions tell you what it can really do.

Who does it report to? A body that answers to the department it's checking works very differently from one that answers to the public. Can it compel records and testimony? If not, it depends on what the department chooses to share. Who has the final say on discipline? If it's the same person whose department is being reviewed, a recommendation may be all the board can offer.

You can ask at a public comment period or send an email to your council member. Ask for the answers in writing, and share what you hear in the comments so others can compare. If your city has nothing at all, ask who is watching the department and what they're allowed to do. Pink poster with bold white text reading: “3 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CITY COUNCIL ABOUT POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY” followed by “1. Who investigates complaints against our police? 2. Can anyone outside the police department get records and question officers? 3. Who decides discipline when an officer is found at fault?” by @fightingmothers

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3 days ago

Subpoena power, to compel records and testimony? A say in the budget, to influence how money is spent? Real weight in discipline, so its findings can't just be set aside? If a board could only have one power, which would you pick and why aren't the others as important? White bold text centered on a teal background asks, “If an oversight board could have only one real power, which would matter most to you, and why?” by @fightingmothers

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4 days ago

There's a big difference between a board that can ask and a board that can compel. One depends on the department's cooperation. The other doesn't.

Find out which one your city has.

#MAPB #MothersAgainstPoliceBrutality #PoliceAccountability #CivilianOversight by @fightingmothers

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4 days ago

We've looked at boards that can only watch. Here's one built to do more.
Oakland's Police Commission can compel records, review the department's budget, set final discipline in misconduct cases, and remove the police chief for cause. Officers can appeal its decisions, like any public employee. The commission also oversees the agency that investigates complaints.

It isn't a perfect model, and it hasn't been uncontested. A city audit criticized the commission for not completing some of its charter duties, and proposals to scale back its powers have been raised. Oakland has also had 11 chiefs or interim chiefs since 2013, and the commission's role in hiring and firing is part of that debate.

That pushback is part of the story. When a board has real power, the people who used to hold all of it notice. Whether it's the right design is a fair debate, but it shows what is possible when a city decides oversight should mean more than watching. by @fightingmothers

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4 days ago

Plenty of oversight boards can investigate and recommend, but the final call belongs to the chief or commissioner.

So what should happen when that person decides not to follow the recommendation?

Should they have to explain it in public? Put it in writing? Something else?

Tell us what you think the minimum should be. Orange square with large white text that reads, “What should be required of a police chief when they overrule the discipline recommendation of an oversight board?” by @fightingmothers

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4 days ago

A board can do everything right and still have no say in the outcome. In NYC, how often its recommendations were followed depended on who held one job. Oversight that depends on luck isn't oversight.

#MAPB #MothersAgainstPoliceBrutality #PoliceAccountability #CivilianOversight by @fightingmothers

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5 days ago

New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board has been independent since 1993. It has subpoena power. It investigates, finds misconduct, and recommends discipline. What it can't do is decide the outcome. The police commissioner does.

A city audit of cases from January 2024 through May 2025 found the department didn't carry out the board's recommended discipline in more than half of substantiated cases that didn't involve formal charges. The rate also swung widely by who held the job. Under one commissioner, the board's recommended discipline was imposed 22.9% of the time. Under another, 77.8%.

Same board. Same kind of cases. A very different outcome depending on one person's decision.

When the result depends on who happens to hold one job, residents aren't looking at a system. They're looking at luck. Oversight that can be set aside without having to explain why isn't much of a check. White text on an orange background reads: THE BOARD DID ITS JOB THEN THE DEPARTMENT DECIDED. NYC's oversight board can subpoena, investigate, and substantiate misconduct. Its recommended discipline was imposed 22.9% of the time under one commissioner; under another, 77.8%. by @fightingmothers

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5 days ago