Policing is an essential component of public safety, but it has become hyper-politicized and polarized to the detriment of the profession and the people it serves. If you think Black lives matter, you must think blue lives don’t, and vice versa. If you work with the police you must be a racist, and if you…
Policing has become hyperpoliticized and polarized to the detriment of the profession and the people it serves. Problematic messages include If you work with or for the police, you must be a racist; If you criticize an officer’s actions, you must be an anarchist; If Black lives matter, blue lives don’t (and vice versa); The only…
One reform that grew out of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 was that recalcitrant states with strong police unions passed decertification laws to take away peace officer licenses from those with a track record of seriously abusing citizens. California and Massachusetts, two states with strong police unions, passed laws to decertify…
After passing the SAFE-T Act in 2021, Illinois was hailed as a model for police reform. However, despite the abolition of cash bail and sweeping police reforms, there remain barriers to accountability. The next step, critics say, is enforcing the existing policy changes among Illinois’ enforcement agencies, strengthening the penalties for failing to fulfill public…
On July 4, 2023, Samuel Davis, a 26-year-old officer for the Northwoods Police Department in North St. Louis County, took Charles Garmon into custody at a Walgreens. After handcuffing Garmon, Davis drove him to a remote intersection outside of a Pepsi bottling plant in Kinloch, a now-largely industrial city of under 300 residents, some four…