The tome describes how far the department has come in the last three months to change or update its policies, so officers won't misuse force or otherwise deprive people of their constitutional rights.

        This is bedtime reading at its best, sure to bring on the snores. It's full of police-department jargon, legalese and repetitive regulatory citations.

        But it didn't have to be a best-seller. I read each word anyway. I was looking for something.

        I wanted to discover in it some language that would assure me that tragedies like the Timothy Thomas shooting, the Roger Owensby suffocation or the Lorenzo Collins fatal confrontation will never happen again.

        I wanted to see a clear blueprint for how police will handle citizen complaints against officers, so small problems will be corrected before they become large, without cover-ups.

        I wanted a cure for racial profiling and the us-versus-them discord between police and certain neighborhoods.

        Such a big book and so many words. There were hints of lessons learned, but it probably wasn't enough to marshal community confidence in police reforms.

        Lingering over differences

        After all, this document is the still-evolving product of a landmark settlement among police, racial-profiling lawsuit plaintiffs, the Justice Department and the city. It's supposed to describe how the police are living up to their end of the bargain.

        But it's not done yet.

        There are lingering differences between police and Justice officials over such matters as how police dogs are handled, how the department will keep track of officers' performance, and who will design and pay for new computer and communications systems.

        Also unclear is how and when a new watchdog group, the Citizens Complaint Authority, will materialize to keep an eye on citizen complaints.

        Still, my gripes rest with the document at hand.

        I want the rules for investigating complaints against police to be clearer and more complete. People should know the details of what will happen if their complaints are validated, or not.

        And there's still too much secrecy in the process.

Behind closed doors

        Many complaints will be handled in so-called resolution meetings. Picture it: a complaining citizen, face-to-face with the officer being accused and his or her supervisor in a meeting behind closed doors at a district station.

        Their conversation will not be recorded. The supervisor will instead fill out a form summarizing the meeting.

        Not much different from the way many complaints are handled now.

        To be clear, this week's status report does show progress by police — the newly written procedures augmenting what officers learn in training:

        Don't put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot.

        Don't spray suspects with chemical irritant or loose a police dog on them until they've had time to surrender.

        Don't shoot non-lethal weapons into a crowd; aim at individual threats.

        Common sense committed to writing.

        Most officers are learning the new rules at daily roll-call meetings. Most officers are not going back to the academy over this.

        But perhaps they should. A brief refresher course could test officers' knowledge of the new rules and ensure this isn't just a shuffling of new papers.

        E-mail damos@enquirer.com or call 768-8395.

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