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Signs calling for all officers and emergency personnel involved in Tyre Nichols’ death to be named and charged rest on public steps on Feb. 1, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Lucy Garrett/Getty Images

Justice Department launches civil rights investigation of Memphis police – 4 essential reads about holding police accountable

The Justice Department has launched a civil rights probe of the Memphis Police Department to examine allegations of excessive force, improper stops and searches and racial disparities.
George Floyd’s death sparked a movement. Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images

When the world changes under a political scientist’s feet

A political scientist says the protests against police violence that have swept the US signal welcome social change – and could dramatically alter the work she’s done for five years.
A protester holds up a sign with Breonna Taylor’s name. Taylor was killed by police officers on March 13. Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

A short history of black women and police violence

Young men make up the majority of black people killed by police in the US. That’s fed a perception that black women are somehow shielded from the threat of police violence. They aren’t.
Activists rallied in New York City in July 2016 to protest police-involved shootings. a katz/Shutterstock.com

Police are more likely to kill men and women of color

According to a new study, about 52 of every 100,000 men and boys, and about 3 of every 100,000 women and girls, are killed by police in the US.
A woman protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by Baton Rouge police. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

Who dies in police custody? Texas, California offer new tools to find out

No federal database provides reliable info on deaths that occur in police custody. It’s the same situation in 48 states. But now California and Texas are offering new models of accountability.
Protesters on the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Remembering Michael Brown: Why black youth are branded as criminals

Do Americans view all youth as equally ‘innocent’? A historian takes us back to the movement that led to unequal treatment of black and white youth in the justice system.
Part protest, part dance party, part autobiography, Flexn tells stories of police brutality and racism in dance. Stephanie Berger, Courtesy of Park Avenue Armory

A new protest movement: Flexn your message through dance

Flex, a dance style that originated in Jamaica in the 1990s, has evolved into a protest movement in the US that enables its practitioners to articulate their experiences of racism, police brutality and violence.
Violence erupts again in Ferguson, Missouri. Lucas Jackson/REUTERS

Why Ferguson erupts

Two criminologists long associated with the University of Missouri – St Louis dispel myths about Ferguson, a community that borders the campus, and explain what’s behind the violent protests there.
Ken Kendricks Jr puts his hands together in prayer at a makeshift memorial to Michael Brown on August 22 2014. Adrees Latif/REUTERS

How Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter taught us not to look away

A movement grew out of Michael Brown’s death one year ago. The people in #BlackLivesMatter want us to fully witness violence against black youth. Their tools are cell phones and social media.
Does this look like community policing? Flikr/Jamelle Bouie

With identity crisis in police, more Fergusons inevitable

Recent social unrest across the country protesting the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the police chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York has reopened wounds and revealed deeply…
St Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch asked grand jury to do investigation POOL New/ Reuters

Explainer: The grand jury in the Darren Wilson case and beyond

Now that the grand jury has decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old man, there remain many questions about this grand jury and generally…
Ferguson after grand jury results announced Jim Young/Reuters

Ferguson: a tale of two competing narratives

Before the ambulance even came to collect the body of 18 year-old Michael Brown from the streets of Ferguson, it was clear that this case would be tried in the court of public opinion. Was Brown a “gentle…
Seattle protests the Ferguson grand jury decision. Jason Redmond/Reuters

Ferguson is not a special case

Last week on ABC’s This Week, President Obama said, “My own experience tells me race relations continue to improve,” and “There’s no way to say race relations are worse than 20, 50 years ago.” It’s impossible…

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