BEEFING UP POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY: CITY NEEDS TO GET SERIOUS WITH POLICE ADVISORY COMMISSION

THE PHILADELPHIA Police Advisory Commission says it will monitor the Police Department's investigation of the brutal, caught-on-tape beating of three shooting suspects by a mob of Philadelphia's finest.

That's good, as far as it goes. But there's a big problem: The advisory commission is overwhelmed and understaffed, and has been for years. It's the only unbiased recourse available to citizens with complaints about police, yet it does not have the resources to do an efficient and expedient job.

And with tension high between police and civilians - tension we hope decreases with the arrest last week of Eric Floyd, the third suspect in a bank robbery in which Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was killed - the commission's job is more important than ever. So is the need for accountability.

A police sergeant and at least 12 officers believed to have been involved in the beating at the 4500 block of North 4th Street have been taken off the streets by Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. The District Attorney's Office is also investigating the beating, videotaped from a Fox 29 helicopter, to determine if criminal charges are in order. That beating Monday night followed a car stop related to a drive-by shooting that wounded three people.

The video image of cops going from one victim to the other, plowing them with kicks while they were held on the ground by other cops, sickens us.

When a police officer is killed, emotions are heightened. Not surprisingly, complaints to the commission increase immediately following the murder of a cop and especially when a suspect is still on the loose: behaving roughly, disrespecting citizens, entering property inappropriately.

Ramsey's shakeup of the department, redeployment of officers and promise to be more aggressive in stopping and frisking suspects all prime the pump for an outpouring of complaints.

Yet the advisory commission - created by then-Councilman Michael Nutter, with a mandate to improve the relationship between the community and police and to investigate, hold hearings and make recommendations to the department about police conduct - has only five people on staff (and one on loan from the managing-director's office).

It has a budget of just $300,000. Since January, the PAC has been promising a report on police-involved shootings since 2005 and why it takes so long to complete the investigations of them.

We're still waiting - now we hear it's probably not coming out for another few weeks. And a former watchdog, the Police Department's integrity officer, whose office was disbanded under the last administration, needs to reopened - and the sooner the better.

With the death of a fallen police officer still heavy on our hearts and the video of out-of-control cops fresh in our minds, Mayor Nutter- who did an admirable job representing the public's concern, sorrow and frustration in the days following Liczbinski's murder- should find at least $1 million so the advisory commission can double its staff and be more efficient.

But more to the point: The more transparency to investigations of police shootings and misconduct, the better. The advisory commission was created to represent the interests of the community and to improve its relationship with the police. That relationship can only grow with a strong and vibrant watchdog.

If you have a complaint, go to www.phila. gov/ PAC or call 215-686-3991. *