by SAFIA SAMEE ALI Newly released footage of interviews with the police officers who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, reveal a shifting story from one officer, as well as a deeply emotional response by another who said he didn’t know Rice “was a kid.”
Chicago Police Department Drafts New Use-Of-Force Policy; Seeks Public Input
Chicago Police Propose New Use-Of-Force Policies Aimed At Reducing Controversies By Annie Sweeney, Jeremy Gorner and Dan Hinkel October 7, 2016 The Chicago Police Department, pressured by a U.S. Justice Department investigation and public outrage over police misconduct, has unveiled proposed policy changes aimed at cutting down on the kinds of controversial uses of force that have plagued the city. The draft policies released Friday … Read More
James Comey, FBI Director: Using Force and Police Power with Reverence and Responsibility, James Comey, FBI Director
In May, 2015, in an important speech on police community relations, FBI Director James Comey urged the law enforcement community to be vigilant to avoid the temptations to abuse their power. “[B]ecause we have [great] power, we … need to constantly remind ourselves of the dangers of power. John Adams once wrote to Thomas Jefferson, “Power always thinks it has … Read More
Philando Castile – MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY NEWS RELEASE
Bruce Gordon, Director of Communications ST. PAUL — Several individuals involved in an officer-involved shooting incident that happened on July 6 in Falcon Heights have been identified. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is conducting an independent investigation into the incident. Officer Jeronimo Yanez and Officer Joseph Kauser have both been with the St. Anthony … Read More
Consent Decree: Albuquerque, NM 2014
Since 2014 Albuquerque has been under supervision of a federal monitor resulting from DOJ finding that the department was characterized by a “culture of aggression,” that lead to numerous rough arrests, dozens of officer-involved shootings and several costly civil lawsuits . On July 1, 2016 an article by the Associated Press claims: “Albuquerque police failed in use-of-force reviews. A federal … Read More
Consent Decree: Detroit, MI
After 13 years of being watched by the federal government, scrutinized over how it handles arrests and lockups, the Detroit Police Department is officially free from court and department of justice oversight. In 2003, the city entered into two consent decrees with the Justice Department after police were accused of unconstitutional conduct, including excessive use of force and illegal detentions. Assistant Police … Read More
Consent Decree: Cleveland, OH
An 18-month federal investigation that gave rise to the consent decree and the employment of a team of 15 experts from around the country to oversee the Cleveland police department’s compliance. A Los Angeles-based police consulting firm, Police Assessment Resource Center. The group will be paid $4.9 million by the city. Six months into the reform effort, the Center filed a … Read More
Consent Decree: Los Angeles, CA
Download Executive Summary(PDF, 2 pages, 19 KB) Download Full Report(PDF, 68 pages, 453 KB) LAPD Consent Decree Overview Civil Rights Consent Decree Following the discovery and disclosure of the Rampart Area Corruption Incident by the Los Angeles Police Department, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) notified the City of Los Angeles that it intended to file a civil suit … Read More
Report: This Is Not Your Grandparents’ Prejudice: The Implications of the Modern Science of Bias for Police Training – Lorie Fridell
Bias starts with our automatic tendency to categorize individuals. We categorize individuals and objects to make sense of the world, which includes categorizing people we don’t know according to group membership. We then attribute to these individuals the stereotypes associated with their group. This does not require animus; it requires only knowledge of the stereotype. Implicit bias, like explicit bias, … Read More
Report: Debunks Claim That Black Teens Are “Vastly More Likely” To Be Killed By Police
A 2014 Report of the Crime Prevention Research Center analyzes and debunks claims that black teens are vastly more likely to be killed by police than white teens. According to the report: “Sometimes racial discrimination is occurring and should be pointed out, but sometimes false information is being used to unjustifiably inflame concerns. The claims being put forward by Slate … Read More