Director Speaks On How Changing Culture Could Decrease Police-Involved Shootings In Philadelphia
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Philadelphia Police Department will soon be subject to a review by a special unit at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The review is designed to decrease the number of police-involved shootings which have plagued the city in recent years.
Joshua Ederheimer, acting director of the Community Oriented Policing Services - or COPS - in the Justice department, will lead the review. He says the idea is to change the culture of the police department.
"An example of changing the culture would be an emphasis on safe tactics by police officers, the need to take cover when possible, to give that opportunity for officers to not immediately resort to deadly force, where there may be an opportunity for de-escalation," Ederheimer explains.
He says the review will begin in September and the full evaluation will take about two-and-a-half years.
Ederheimer says a pilot program started in 2012 in Las Vegas has already decreased the number of police involved shootings there.
