Attempts to reform US police departments fail when they are unable to get community support. Perhaps it is time to take a different tack, argue two criminal justice scholars – one a former cop.
In the early hours of Feb. 10, 1971, heavily armed officers moved in on a house occupied by Black Panther activists – marking a policing trajectory toward a more militarized response to Black activism.
Rioters mass on the U.S. Capitol steps on Jan. 6.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Ostensibly protesting an election they may have thought was stolen, their actions fed a larger set of goals that American militants are seizing upon to take more extreme action.
A U.S. Capitol police officer stands at a street corner near the Capitol.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
At age 7, Black, white and Hispanic children have a similar opinion of the police. But this increasingly turns negative by the time they are teenagers, especially for nonwhite teens.
Minneapolis Police create a blockade after a campaign rally for President Donald Trump on October 10, 2019.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
George Floyd’s death has thrust police unions into the spotlight amid a growing recognition that they are not part of the U.S. labor movement but a narrow interest group pursuing their self-interests.
Research shows that arrests for serious crimes are quite rare.
Blake Nissen for The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Anti-black violence exists against the backdrop of the political and cultural dehumanization of Black people. How did this happen and where do we go from here?
Armed white citizens and police have historically worked together in the U.S., though it’s not clear whether that’s what’s happening here.
George Frey/Getty Images
A decadeslong process of recruiting a more diverse police force has led to more peaceful communities and widespread, bipartisan trust in policing in Northern Ireland.
Police in Tulsa, Okla., march toward a crowd of demonstrators on June 20, 2020.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Opinions about demonstrations are formed in large part by what people read or see in the media. This gives journalists a lot of power when it comes to driving the narrative.