Police Issues

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“We don't have to defund police departments. We have to make sure they meet minimum basic standards of decency.”

—President Joe Biden

“The silence of the good people is more dangerous than the brutality of the bad people.”

— Martin Luther King

“No one is compelled to choose the profession of police officer; but having chosen it, everyone is obligated to perform its duties and live up to the high standards of its requirements.”

— President Calvin Coolidge

Police Issues News

Phoenix Mayor Gallego responds to arrest of disabled, deaf Black man

October 24, 2024

By: abc15.com staff Posted 12:31 PM, Oct 16, 2024 PHOENIX — Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has responded to ABC15’s report of a disabled and deaf Black man who was arrested by Phoenix police officers.…

September 11, 2024

By Nate Rodgers Published September 9, 2024 5:28pm CDT To watch video report, Click Here. Wrongfully convicted Chicago man awarded $50M in lawsuit Marcel Brown, who spent nearly a decade in…

The ACLU has evolved in the years since from this small group of idealists into the nation’s premier defender of the rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. With more than 1.7 million members, 500 staff attorneys, thousands of volunteer attorneys, and offices throughout the nation, the ACLU of today continues to fight government abuse and to vigorously defend individual freedoms including speech and religion, a woman’s right to choose, the right to due process, citizens’ rights to privacy and much more.

Equal Justice USA is a national organization that works to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. We work at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and racial justice to elevate healing over retribution, meet the needs of survivors, advance racial equity, and build community safety.

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Fact Sheet

68% of Americans say police officers need additional training on how to handle confrontations with citizens.
Cato Institute
51% of Americans say they would pay higher taxes to outfit their local police department with cameras.
Cato Institute
Seattle saw a 63% decrease in serious use-of-force incidents eight years after its police department went through a pattern-or-practice investigation that resulted in a consent decree.
American Progress

Midwestern states have substantially lower police-related injury rates that appear to be associated with their less frequent use of weapons and greater reliance on low-level physical force tactics.
Seattle University
1,300 people in San Jose ended up in the ER after interacting with city police from 2017 to 2020. Control holds played a role in 60% of the cases. Almost 20% of people were shot with stun guns, and 10% were hit with an "impact weapon" such as a baton.
Marshall Project
8 in 10 Americans support having outside law enforcement agencies investigate alleged police misconduct rather than leave the investigation to the local police department.
Cato Institute

Resources, Publications, & Articles

· International Peace Institute

· U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs

· Brookings

· Yale Law Journal

· United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

· Minnesota State University

Some Major Police Reform Challenges in 2022...

Lack of training
Discrimination/prejudice
Police brutality
Funding

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Ways to Take Action

Support Groups actively involved in police reform

There are already groups and organizations out there working to reform the police. They all have different ways of tackling the problem. Take a look through the organizations to find one you most agree with.

Contact Your Representative

Contacting your congressman is important if you want to see change in your community. By reaching out to your representative you are making sure that your voice is heard and can be part of the political process. Use this link to find out who your representative is.

Upcoming Events

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Recommended Media

POLICING THE POLICE

"Policing the Police" offers an up-close look at police reform efforts in Newark, NJ, after the force was found to have engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests of black residents. With gripping, on-the-ground access, this 2016 film examines the difficulties of fixing a broken relationship between the police and the community.

Where to Watch: YouTube

THE FORCE

The Force is a 2017 documentary film directed by Peter Nicks. The documentary describes two years of efforts by the Oakland Police Department to implement reforms against police misconduct and scandals, at a time of growing social unrest, protests demanding increased police accountability, and ongoing federal oversight. The film won the Documentary Directing Award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and a Golden Gate Award at the 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival.

Where to Watch: Hulu, Vudu, YouTube

DO NOT RESIST

An urgent and powerful exploration of the rapid militarization of the police in the United States. Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, "Do Not Resist" offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action - from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of "righteous violence" to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments - before exploring where controversial new technologies including predictive policing algorithms could lead the field next.

Where to Watch: YouTube, Google Play, Vudu