(MintPress) – The City of Minneapolis, Minn. is taking a step in a new direction when it comes to handling cases of police misconduct, claiming its new process, which includes the Civil Rights Department, will provide a fair avenue for complainants to make their case — one the city hopes will help to increase confidence among the public and those within the department.

The issue isn’t only garnering attention in Minnesota. With cases of police misconduct remaining an alarming issue throughout the nation, watchdog organizations and citizens are calling on police departments to institute policies that reflect respect for the public and a serious approach toward officer misconduct.

The issue in Minneapolis is one that looks primarily at the way complaints are dealt with, creating a new body responsible for investigating incidents, rather than relying on the matter to be dealt with in-house. Now, all complaints will immediately be shuffled to the Office of Police Conduct Review, where civilian and police managers will make the decision regarding the next step. Minor violations will be given back to police supervisors, and more serious cases will be handed over for full investigations, according to a press release sent to MintPress.

The idea behind Minneapolis’ move is to, essentially, shift away from a misconduct reporting model that would allow those within the department to cast it to the side — something that has been known to happen within police departments throughout the nation.

And while it is a step forward, what the policy doesn’t do, however, is look at the punishment process officers undergo once it’s determined they’re guilty of abuse of power.

The way policies throughout the nation stand now are all quite similar in one sense. Typically, an officer at the subject of an investigation is put on administrative leave, meaning he or she is getting paid while it’s determined whether they’re guilty of an offense. If so, they’re dropped from the force. And while that may be a burden to their future, the burden continues to plague the department on which they served, which, of course, is funded through taxpayer dollars.

Assault and paid administrative leave: Where’s the line?

Take an incident under investigation right now in Duluth, Minn., for example. There, an officer was caught on videotape repeatedly and violently punching a homeless man in a wheelchair in the face at a detoxification center. The abuse didn’t stop at one punch, but continued until the wheelchair-bound man was lying on the ground.

It started when the man was in a small room inside the Duluth detox center. When asked to remove his jacket, he made a comment about throwing it at a woman who appeared to be an administrative clerk. As the officer attempted to restrain him, the man in the wheelchair reached up to grab the officer’s face. This was when the officer began to repeatedly punch the man in the face, causing the wheelchair to fall over, at which point the assault continued.

The officer, 34-year-old Richard Jouppi, is facing an investigation and possible fifth-degree misdemeanor assault charges, according to the Duluth News Tribune. And although the police department has determined that his conduct violates policies and procedures, the taxpayers will burden the cost associated with the investigation and any possible lawsuits stemming from the incident.

“Based on the information we have to date, it is our conclusion that his (Jouppi’s) conduct violates our policies and procedures and the very high standards to which this City holds our officers accountable,” it states in Duluth Police Department documents sent to MintPress. “After reviewing the incident, we moved to conduct an expedited investigation.”

Duluth Police Department Public Information Officer Jim Hansen, however, told MintPress that, if a criminal charge leads to a conviction, the situation would be different for Jouppi, who would likely be named in any lawsuit the city faces from the incident.

Investigation, regardless of proof?

The case in Duluth was caught on camera, available for anyone in the public and the police department to view. In a normal work setting, that would be enough for a supervisor to make a decision. But with the public department, it takes more than that.

A similar incident is happening in Philadelphia, Penn. where an officer was caught on video knocking a woman to the ground at a Puerto Rican Day parade.

The video shows the officer charge the woman, appearing to grab her neck and throw her to the ground. The officer then proceeds to handcuff that woman as she sits on the ground. As police escort her away, blood can be seen dripping from her mouth. Caught by a bystander at the parade, the video was posted on Youtube and, as of Tuesday, garnered nearly 840,00 views.

The video, arguably, shows the woman throwing something in the direction of the officer, possibly water, prior to the attack.

NBC Philadelphia reported Lt. Jonathan Josey as the officer in the video — a man who his colleagues consider a top-notch officer considered a hero for his work on the force, including an incident in which he shot and killed an Iraqi vet during an attempted robbery.

As it stands now, Josey is on desk duty, which NBC reports to be “standard operating procedure” while his colleagues investigate the incident. He continues to be paid, and, if his case looks like others throughout the nation, will likely not result in any criminal charges.

Keeping an eye on misconduct, changing the rules of the game

With technology capable of capturing cases of police misconduct in the hands of everyday citizens, the way in which police departments deal with misconduct cases is much more open for public scrutiny.

The outrage that stemmed from the cases in Duluth and Philadelphia drew outrage from those viewing the images from throughout the nation and world, with many intent on keeping a close eye on what the end result is.

Watchdog organizations, including one run by the reputable Libertarian think-tank, the Cato Institute, have the mission of doing just that. Cato’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project has the task of collecting data each day relating to cases of police misconduct in the news.

The intent of the project is not only to compile the information in one location, but also to use such data to provide an accurate picture on what is happening in the nation, in terms of police misconduct.

Clearly, there’s a distrust of the way in which police departments handle cases that involve their own colleagues and put their department’s reputation at stake. Moves like those made within the Minneapolis Police Department, intent on regaining public trust in the system, are surely to be the result of the widespread watchdog movement. Yet, not all cities are on board, and those on the other end claim there’s still work to be done.