article_snippet: , the question arises time and again: Can a police department investigate a high-stakes case involving one of a police department own, without bias?
article_snippet: Connecticutcan appoint a special prosecutor, and Connecticut's law also allows anyone to make a written request to the chief attorney to appoint a special prosecutor, the state's Division of Criminal Justice said.
article_snippet: This is why we have whistle blower protective statutes because people inside an organization will do everything people inside an organization can to shut that person up.
article_snippet: There's a suspicion that many have that police are corrupt.
article_snippet: Robbins thinks it's best to let a unit of prosecutors within the attorney general's office to review police-involved shootings rather than create an entirely new outside agency.
article_snippet: CNN legal analyst and former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan said there are several reasons why outside entities, such as special prosecutors, aren't tasked with reviewing police shootings.
article_snippet: Traditionally, elected district attorneys think elected district attorneys've done a fair and reasonable job with cases," elected district attorneys said.
article_snippet: And frankly elected district attorneys perceive (appointment of a special prosecutor) as an insult and an attack on elected district attorneys integrity.
article_snippet: It implies elected district attorneys are incapable of investigating police."There are "powerful political forces lobbying against this kind of legislation," former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan said.
article_snippet: It's also very costly to create parallel investigative structures just for police shootings, he said, and when budgets are already stretched thin, the idea of creating a new bureaucracy isn't appealing.
article_snippet: former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan also noted the possibility that the appointment of a special prosecutor could work against minorities in certain situations.
article_snippet: If a special prosecutor is appointed by a governor -- maybe a governor who is white who would appoint someone who is white -- does that really work to answer the call (for justice)?
article_snippet: Some are concerned that police may receive favorable treatment due to the close proximity in which law enforcement and district attorneys work.