Sunday's Washington Post has two stories about Cpl. Steven Jackson, the Prince George’s County police officer accused of beating and then fatally shooting Manuel de Jesus Espina. The incident last August caused uproar and exposed the mistrust between county police and Langley Park’s large Hispanic community.

A Metro section-front story reports how Espina’s son, Manuel de Jesus Espina Jacome, who watched his father die, stood up at a community meeting last week and asked county police officials: “What are you doing with assassin police officers?”

It’s not the first time Jackson’s version of an arrest didn’t jibe with other facts.

Read More "Sunday Post Raises Questions about Police Officer Involved in 2008 Shooting Death of Langley Park Latino" »

Earlier this month, three D.C. Councilmembers---Mendelson, Cheh, and Bowser--- introduced legislation that would significantly beef up the oversight powers of the Office of Police Complaints. The bill would expand the authority of the Police Complaints Board to monitor complaints filed with D.C. Police and Housing Authority cops. The bill would remedy the on-going problem of the D.C. cops investigating their own without much if any kind of outside oversight. The OPC was so elated with this bill, the agency wrote a press release.

This is big news. The D.C. Police have always shielded its investigations into misconduct from FOIA laws, claiming these investigations as work product. I addressed the issue years ago in a piece about four Sixth District cops with a stack of citizen complaints. This bill may finally shine some daylight on police-led investigations of excessive force.

The bill states that the board "shall have unfettered access to all information and supporting documentation of the covered law enforcement agencies..."

Read More "D.C. Council Introduces Bill To Expand Office Of Police Complaints Oversight" »