[eigenman]

Most police departments have internal affairs departments, but these are largely toothless. I would not expect a national organization to perform much better. The incentives simply are not aligned: it is easy to see a politician leaning on the department saying "this will make me look bad, make it go away."

I think what would be more powerful would be to empower citizens to bring criminal cases against police offers acting in their official capacity. Then at least we could be assured that the prosecutors are motivated to win the case for their clients.

[pydry]

Local internal affairs departments don't work because your career is dependent upon this corrupt judge, DA, cop in your area with whom you will work again. You're incentivized not to look too closely because your career is on the line. Plenty of good cops who have uncovered corruption have been personally targeted this way.

In a national department? You get to the top by putting dirty cops in jail. Your boss's boss does not need to maintain an good relationship with a judge in Georgia. They win in their career by putting more dirty cops in jail.

The more national and centralized and separate from the rest of the police a department like this is the more ruthless it can be.