Paul Figueroa: Can Police Departments Reduce Implicit Bias?
“In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement,” said President Obama in a recent speech at the Congressional Black Caucus … Continue reading
Abby Zimet: “Oh My God, They Use You for Target Practice.”
In your weekly, admittedly rhetorical WTF-is-wrong-with-this-country turn, it seems cops in South Florida have been using real photos of real black men – bullet-riddled, obviously, when they’re done with them … Continue reading
Marc Jampole: Warrior Cops
Warrior cops continue to destroy civil liberties and the lives of innocent people. I’ve been suffering a slight case of cognitive dissonance lately, a disorientation that stems from residing in … Continue reading
Origins of the police
Originally posted on Works in theory:
The Five Points district of lower Manhattan, painted by George Catlin in 1827. New York’s first free Black settlement, Five Points was also a…
Marc Jampole: On the recent assassination of two police officers
To stop future assassinations of police, we must toughen gun laws & end police brutality against minorities No sane person would condone or try to justify the execution-style killings of … Continue reading
Daniel Burston: Racism, Policing and the Exuberance of Power
“Justice, justice shall you pursue . . .” Deuteronomy 16:18 “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke Trayvon … Continue reading
Lauren McCauley: ‘The Alarm Bells are Ringing’ — From Athletes to Environmentalists, a Universal Call for Racial Justice Emerges
While the protests over deaths of Eric Garner and Mike Brown refuse to stand down, leading environmentalists, labor protesters and others show their solidarity saying: “These issues are not separate.” … Continue reading
Sarah Lazare: As Protests Sweep Nation, DOJ Confirms Cleveland Police ‘Chaotic and Dangerous’
Last month, amid mounting nationwide outrage at deadly law enforcement violence against black people, Tamir Rice—12 years old, African-American, and unarmed—was shot and killed by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: The Good, the Bad and…the Scared
There are bad cops. Trigger-happy. Vengeful. Crooked. Prejudiced. There are also bad teachers and bad priests. When the public trust is broken by “bad apples” in any helping profession, … Continue reading
Jose Padua: Coming Home
Originally posted on Shenandoah Breakdown:
When the policeman tells me to pull over to the curb because the woman with the pearly white smile just told him that I nearly…
Sarah Lazare: Severe Racial Disparities In Arrests the Norm In America
At least 1,581 police departments across the country arrest black people at greater rates than in Ferguson, according to USA Today analysis. Ferguson, Missouri has become a flashpoint of anger … Continue reading
Kara Dansky: How Many People Must Be Maimed or Killed Before We End the Militarization of Our Police Forces?
Father “Bou” Phonesavanh showers his son “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh with love after the young toddler braved a battle for his life, one month after police in Georgia dropped a “flash bang” … Continue reading
Barbara Elovic: An Encounter with the Police
A few years ago on a Saturday afternoon in late fall I had a surprisingly unpleasant encounter with one of New York’s finest. As I was starting to cross the … Continue reading
Vox Populi 
John Samuel Tieman: Ferguson and the We-ness of Transition
All we have is anger and sadness. On the front page of Friday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch was a story of two policemen shot in Ferguson. There was also a huge photograph … Continue reading →