The City of Orlando just approved an item that allows for the creation of a new office within the Orlando Police Department in an effort to “further transparency and equity between officers and the public they serve.”
The new Office of Constitutional Policing is an extension of the mayor’s Community Trust and Equity Initiative that was launched in September 2020 to strengthen community policing efforts in light of the Black Lives Matter protests of the time.
The office will assist in the implementation of recommendations outlined by The Bowman Group, which recently carried out an analysis of the Orlando Police Department and identified opportunities to enhance transparency and equity in the local police force.
The Office of Constitutional Policing will be comprised of two units, the Constitutional Policing and Policy Implementation Unit and the Accountability and Standards Compliance Unit. The Constitutional Policing and Policy Implementation Unit will be responsible for monitoring and tracking constitutional policing and community trust, and equity-related projects, assisting in policy review and development, as well as developing collection methods, tracking, analyzing, and reporting on data related to constitutional policing, community trust and equity-related projects. The Accountability and Standards Compliance Unit’s primary responsibility will be to review Response to Resistance reports, and pro-actively audit body-worn camera video and related information for accuracy and compliance with departmental policy and state statutes.
“A commitment to constitutional and community policing will foster a culture of ethical lawful practices,” said Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón. “Together they build trust between our officers and the citizens we serve.”
