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TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Objective II. Key Takeaways III. Historical Context – Relationship Between Race and Law Enforcement IV. Modern Context – and V. Modern Context – Militarization of the Police VI. Modern Context – High-Profile Victims of Police Brutality VII. Modern Context – Accountability Barriers and Reform VIII. The Current State – Assessment of Existing Efforts to Reduce Police Brutality IX. The Way Forward – Institutional Reforms X. Civic Engagement in Creating Reform XI. “” – Efforts and Outcomes XII. Additional Resources

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Objective This memo examines police brutality in the US, including historical context and recommendations.

Key Takeaways ● Accurately assessing the current state of police discrimination among minority communities requires understanding the history of law enforcement, race, and the justice system. ● Measurement and evaluation of law enforcement’s use of lethal force is particularly challenging due to the absence of a comprehensive national database of shootings by officers. ● As of June 2020, only 25 of the 100 largest police departments require officers to report all uses of force, ​ including threatening another civilian with a firearm.1 ​ ● The highest levels of inequality in mortality risk from police lethal force are experienced by black men; Black men are about 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police over the life course than are white men.2 ● Social-psychological research and anecdotal evidence indicate that militarized policing inflames situations that might otherwise be concluded peacefully. ● Whites, Blacks and Hispanics have extremely disparate views about local police; whites are most likely to express confidence in police and their discretion in using excessive force, and blacks are least likely to do so. ● Postsecondary education significantly reduces the likelihood that officers will use force as their first option in subduing citizens. ● Reforms to address police brutality center on developing a national database of transparent information, implementing universal use of body cameras, fostering greater community engagement, ‘use of force’ policies and reducing police militarization.

Historical Context – Relationship Between Race and Law Enforcement Early American law enforcement officials, particularly in slave states, were authorized and expected to enforce laws enacting the most extreme forms of racism. In the American South, the first policing occurred in the form of “slave patrols,” developed and implemented by White slave owners as an oppressive method to maintain 3 control of and order among slaves. The system deputized groups of people to patrol public properties, approach any Black person unattended by a White person, and demand proof, in the form of a pass, that he or 4 she could be alone beyond plantation boundaries. Further, the patrols’ authority extended to private property where they were empowered to enter any plantation and search the houses of Black people for weapons and 5 ammunition. If the stop or search produced unfavorable results, the patrols were authorized to inflict corporal punishment on any slave.

1 https://8cantwait.org/compare/ ​ 2 https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/116/34/16793.full.pdf ​ 3 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10511250500335627 ​ 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRP5JK5CebI ​ 5 B. Wood, Slavery in Colonial Goergia, n. 14 above: 123-4. ​ ​

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Following the abolishment of slavery, the sanctioned vigilante-style behavior of the slave patrols evolved into the de jure mandates of Southern police departments. The police were the tip of the spear in enforcing laws which strategically criminalized the black population, leading to a perception that Blacks were inherently 6 criminal. Black Codes were established following the Civil War to perpetuate the social system of slavery; the laws targeted the recently-liberated Black population by outlawing homelessness, unemployment, preaching the Gospel without a license and gathering in public. Whites staffed urban police forces and State militias,constituting law enforcement apparatuses in which Blacks enjoyed virtually no representation and were disproportionately targeted. As one Mississippi White phrased it in 1865, Black Codes existed “to keep good 7 order and discipline among the negro population.”

Following the Civil War, two pieces of landmark legislation offered Black Americans a temporary respite from relentless de jure violence and discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 defined United States citizens as all males born in the United States (with the exception of indigenous Americans) and granted all citizens “full and equal benefit of all laws.”8. The Civil RIghts Act of 1875 effectively outlawed racial segregation.9 As a result, during Reconstruction, states began to forbid excluding Black people from public transportation, accommodations, and locations. Blacks began to experience increased representation in law enforcement as Black officers joined historically white-dominated police departments across the country, particularly in the 10 South. However, this progress was short-lived; two major Supreme Court decisions - Civil Rights Cases (1883) ​ ​ and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation. The impact on Black Americans ​ ​ and their equal enjoyment of rights was swift. In law enforcement (among myriad other professions), Blacks experienced a dramatic reversal in representation. In one notable example, the New Orleans Police Department employed 177 Black officers in 1870; in the years following Plessy v. Ferguson, the number had plummeted to 5 ​ ​ Black officers.

Legal segregation and the Jim Crow laws, established to create “separate but equal” treatment, essentially reversed five decades of civil rights progress. Adopted by every Southern state and many Northern cities by 1914, the Jim Crow laws encouraged a system of segregation that defined Blacks as second-class citizens, with limits on their civil rights. The role of the police was to enforce Jim Crow laws and keep minorities and people of color contained; White-dominated departments throughout the country enacted policies that disproportionately arrested minorities for low-level crimes, overpoliced minority neighborhoods, and encouraged the use of excessive force.

While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the of the late 1960s directly confronted minority civil and legal rights, de facto discrimination by police continued to occur. Law enforcement practices in the 1980s and 1990s were influenced by heightened criminal activity particularly affecting lower-income communities and

6 Davis, A.Y. (2003). Are Prisons Obsolete? Canada: Turnaround Publisher Services Ltd 7 P.S. Foner, History of Black Americans: From Africa to the Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom, Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 1975: 206 8 https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-Civil-Rights-Bill-of-1866/ ​ 9 https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilRightsAct1875.htm ​ 10 https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/121019.pdf ​

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11 communities of color. The response was a push for stricter laws, longer sentences, and more vigilant policing that disproportionately and adversely affected communities of color.

In the 1970s, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” and in the 1980s, President Reagan continued to promote rhetoric and policies intended to address America’s drug problem. At the time, the Mental Health 12 Services Administration estimated that 76% of illicit drug users in the U.S. were White and 14% were Black. However, 37% of people arrested for drug violations were Black. Said another way, the Black population arrested for drugs was two and a half times greater than the Black population of drug users.13 The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 illustrates (and codifed) the inherent racial discrimination the “War on Drugs.” The Act established mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug trafficking crimes and created a 100:1 sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine.14 Despite the fact that powder and crack cocaine are comparable in chemical composition, the sentencing for crack offenses was 100x harsher than that of cocaine offenses. The racial disparity was clear: Blacks were - and are - more likely to be convicted of crack cocaine offenses, while Whites are more likely to be convicted of powder cocaine offenses. Before the 1986 law, the average federal drug sentence for Black Americans was 11% higher than for White Americans. By 1990, the average federal drug sentence for Blacks was 49% higher than for Whites.15 By 2000, there were more Black men in jail or prison than there were enrolled in higher education.16

Through centuries of oppressive justice systems, racial discrimination has evolved from explicit laws to the implicit bias that exists today. Racial discrimination and profiling remains ever-present in the interactions between minority communities and law enforcement, as demonstrated by modern stop-and-frisk programs and traffic stops.

Modern Context – Racial Profiling and Police Brutality Investigative activity is a standard practice of sound police work. This includes undercover operations, street patrols and traffic violation stops with the aim of discovering more serious criminality. These activities require that officers exercise discretion – from determining which citizens are suspicious and which cars to tail, to assessing what behavior warrants additional investigation. Unfortunately, this discretion is often implemented through the prism of race. A growing body of evidence highlights that despite the constitutional promise of equal treatment under the law, the US continues to grapple with systemic racial police discrimination.

A fundamental aspect of racial profiling (the selection of individuals as suspicious based on race or ethnicity) is the targeted use of law enforcement resources in minority communities versus White comnunities, where people engage similar behaviors but do not receive the same level of scrutiny. Across the country, Blacks and Hispanics are stopped and searched by police at a disproportionately high rate, even though they are less likely than their White counterparts to be found possessing contraband or committing a criminal act. In Volusia

11 http://harvardlawreview.org/2017/01/the-presidents-role-in-advancing-criminal-justice-reform/ ​ 12 Miller, J.G. (1996). Search and Destroy. New York: Cambridge University Press. 13 Bickel, C. (2012). The Drug War and Plantations to Prisons. Cal Poly, Lecture. San Luis Obispo, CA. 14 https://www.aclu.org/other/cracks-system-20-years-unjust-federal-crack-cocaine-law ​ 15 https://www.aclu.org/other/cracks-system-20-years-unjust-federal-crack-cocaine-law ​ 16 https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/28/us/study-finds-big-increase-in-black-men-as-inmates-since-1980.html ​

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County, Florida, 1,000 documented traffic stops by state troopers revealed that 80% of those stopped and 17 searched were Black or Hispanic, yet these ethnicities only constituted 5% of the drivers on the road. In Illinois, Black and Hispanic drivers are twice as likely to be searched after a traffic stop compared to White drivers, but 18 White drivers were twice as likely to have contraband. A 2019 L.A. Times analysis found that in Los Angeles a Black person was more than four times as likely to be searched by police as a White person, and a Latino was 19 three times more likely.

The most highly documented example of de facto racial profiling as policy is the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) stop and frisk program, which targeted Blacks and Hispanics approximately 85 percent of the time 20 between 2002 and 2014. During this period, young Black and Hispanic men constituted more than 40 percent 21 of all stops, despite accounting for less than 5 percent of NYC’s population. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the program as disproportionately targeting the groups that commit disproportionate amounts of crime. However, an analysis of the NYPD’s own data from 2002 to 2014 shows that nearly 90 22 percent of stopped and frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent. The data demonstrates that stop-and-frisks are only successful 10% of the time, and has no impact on crime rate, as illustrated by the chart below.

Source: Washington Post ​

Acknowledging the discriminatory nature and arguably futile efforts of the stop-and-frisk program, Bill de Blasio’s 2012 election campaign promised an end to the NYPD’s aggressive use of the program. Reviews of his progress are mixed; since his election in 2013, the NYPD has seen a reduction in a sheer number of stops, but not a change in the disproportionate targeting of Blacks and Latinos. In 2014, New Yorkers were stopped by the ​ ​ 17 Alexander, M. (2010) The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press. 18 https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/humanrights/cerd_finalreport.pdf ​ 19 https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lapd-searches-20190605-story.html ​ 20 http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data ​ 21 http://www.nyclu.org/files/publications/NYCLU_2011_Stop-and-Frisk_Report.pdf ​ 22 Id line 2.

Page | 7 ​ police 46,235 times down from 191,558 in 2013. However, Blacks and Latinos still constituted 84 percent of all 23 stops. Thus, de Blasio’s policies have not reduced the radical racial disparity in who is stopped. ​ ​

Profiling by police is the starting point of the disparate treatment of minorities. Once they enter the judicial system, they continue to confront racial biases at each litigation stage. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be charged and convicted than their White counterparts for the same offenses. Prison sentences for Black men are 24 nearly 20% longer than those of white men for similar crimes.

Additionally, police are stopping many minorities who have committed no crime;in particular, young Black men are most at risk when police stops escalate into deadly encounters. A recent example of excessive force is the police killing of on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incident reignited divisive ​ debates about law enforcement’s use of lethal force. While law enforcement officials emphatically maintain that officer shootings are rare and typically justified, civil rights groups have prescribed racial motivations, pointing to the disproportionate Black and Hispanic men killed. In fact, more than 250 Black people were killed by police in 25 2016 alone.

Accurately measuring police use of force and investigating the underlying causes is nearly impossible because the US Justice Department does not keep a comprehensive record of shootings by officers. There is no central infrastructure for collecting information and disseminating it to the public. Rather, the nation’s 17,000+ law enforcement agencies self-report officer-involved shootings to constitute the FBI’s annual data on “justifiable 26 homicides.” The FBI measures justifiable homicides at around 400 per year, but this figure is a gross underestimate as only 750 of the nation’s 17,000 law enforcement agencies (4%) self-report officer-involved 27 shootings.

In an effort to analyze the reliability of the FBI’s justifiable homicide data, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ​ ​ requested internal records on killings by officers from the country’s 110 largest police departments, and ​ received data from 105. A review of these internal figures concluded that between 2007 and 2012, there were more than 1,800 killings by officers across the 105 departments and nearly all of these were deemed justifiable. During the same period, the FBI’s justifiable homicide count for those departments’ jurisdiction was 28 approximately 30% less at 1,242. The WSJ found that the FBI’s justifiable homicide totals didn’t match police agency internal totals for multiple reasons, including states failing to report law-enforcement homicides, as illustrated by the figure below.

23 Id line 2. 24 http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/news/congressional-testimony-and-reports/booker-reports/2012-booker/Part _E.pdf 25 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-people-killed-by-police-america_us_577da633e4b0c590f7e7fb17 ​ 26 http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Blumenthal%20Record%20Sub%2012-9-14.pdf ​ 27 http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Blumenthal%20Record%20Sub%2012-9-14.pdf ​ 28 http://www.wsj.com/articles/hundreds-of-police-killings-are-uncounted-in-federal-statistics-1417577504 ​

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Source: The Wall Street Journal ​ ​

Instances of police brutality highlight the divide that exists between law enforcement and communities of color. Research from the Pew Research Center below underscores that minorities and whites have polar perspectives about race—from confidence in the police to progress on racial equality: ​ ​

Source: Pew Research Center ​

There are significant gaps in views of local police between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics. Whites are most likely to express confidence in police, their discretion in using excessive force and their treatment of minorities, and

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29 Blacks are least likely to do so. Eliminating police brutality requires tackling the long-standing misunderstanding and unrest between communities of color and law enforcement.

The US Justice Department has begun to crack down on racial profiling and the discriminatory behaviors exhibited by local departments across the United States. The Cleveland Police Department was most recently charged with violating profiling and excessive force regulations by The Justice Department. This follows a long list of law enforcement agencies that were also charged with violating these regulations by the Department, 30 including Seattle, New Orleans, Portland, Newark and Albuquerque. Racial profiling can actually make police ​ less accurate by wasting resources on false positives and focusing attention away from clues that do indicate 31 criminal activity.

Modern Context – Militarization of the Police Simultaneously, the federal government has contributed to the militarization of America's police officers. This is due to programs such as 1033, which routinely transfers surplus military equipment to local law enforcement, including mine-resistant tanks, sound cannons, tear gas, automatic rifles, and grenade launchers. Since the program’s inception, the Department of Defence has transferred more than $7.4 billion in property to more 32 than 8,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. The government does not provide any training to recipient law enforcement agencies on how to use the military-grade equipment; that responsibility is left to local police departments. A 2014 White House review of the 1033 program cited concerns that “police chiefs and those responsible for authorizing the deployment of military-style equipment often lack proper training to understand when and how controlled equipment is most appropriately deployed.”33

These federal programs began and expanded in response to the September 11 attacks, with the political explanation that local police departments were on the front lines of the global war on terrorism. Despite ​ minimal domestic terrorism activity, these programs have continued with minimal oversight. The federal ​ government has not consistently tracked the equipment transferred to local law enforcement since the 1033 program began, which has complicated oversight efforts. As of March 2020, the arsenals of local law enforcement agencies currently include 494 mine-resistant vehicles, at least 800 pieces of body armor, more than 6,500 rifles, and at least 76 aircraft acquired through the 1033 program.34

29 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/28/latino-confidence-in-local-police-lower-than-among-whites/ ​ 30 http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/15/racial-profiling-has-destroyed-public-trust-in-police-cops -are-exploiting-our-weak-laws-against-it/ 31 http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice ​ 32 https://www.wired.com/story/pentagon-hand-me-downs-militarize-police-1033-program/ ​ 33 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/federal_support_for_local_law_enforcement_equipment_ acquisition.pdf 34 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johntemplon/police-departments-military-gear-1033-program ​

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Source: BuzzFeed News ​

The increase in military-style equipment has driven a significant rise in the number of police SWAT teams and the increased use of SWAT teams for minor activities such as conducting liquor inspections and serving warrants. Maria Haberfeld, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has studied how police departments outfit themselves and described a “weapons effect” stating, “Military equipment is used against an enemy. So if ​ ​ you give the same equipment to local police, by default you create an environment in which the public 35 is perceived as an enemy.” Militarized policing inflames situations that might otherwise conclude peacefully. ​ The same 2014 White House report found that equipping police departments with military-grade equipment can “foster an environment at the local level in which it is difficult to distinguish between the appropriate military ​ use and the appropriate [law enforcement agency] use of the same equipment.”36

Efforts to reform the 1033 program have been minor and short-lived; Obama-era restrictions on certain types of weapons and equipment local law enforcement agencies could receive through the program were lifted by the Trump Administration in 2017.37

Modern Context – High-Profile Victims of Police Brutality While the epidemic of police violence cuts across racial lines, communities of color are disproportionately affected. Between 2005 and 2012, a white police officer killed a black civilian twice a week. On average, there ​ were 96 such incidents among at least 400 killings by officers each year that were reported to the FBI by local 38 police. High profile killings are pictured below.

35 http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/08/how-militarizing-police-can-increase-violence.html ​ 36 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/federal_support_for_local_law_enforcement_equipment_ acquisition.pdf 37 https://www.wired.com/story/pentagon-hand-me-downs-militarize-police-1033-program/ ​ 38 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/police-killings-data/14060357/ ​

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November 2006: Sean Bell was shot and killed on his wedding day in Queens, New York ​ City. Bell and his friends were leaving his bachelor party when undercover police officers in the area incorrectly assumed they were armed and about to take part in a drive-by shooting. Bell was shot four times and killed in a hail of 50 bullets fired from the NYPD.

January 2009: Oscar Grant was shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) ​ Station police officer in Oakland, California. Officers were responding to reports of a fight on a crowded BART train and detained Grant and several others on the platform upon arrival. An officer kneed Grant in the head and forced him to lie face down on the platform. Grant was shot in the back, rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead later that day.

May 2010: 7-year-old Aiyana Jones was shot and killed during a raid conducted by ​ ​ ​ police in Detroit, Michigan. Jones was sleeping on a couch next to her grandmother when a SWAT team threw a flashbang grenade through the window. Seconds later, the SWAT team stormed in the home while executing a search warrant for her uncle. Jones was mistakenly shot and killed by a single bullet to the head.

February 2012: was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer ​ in Sanford, Florida. Martin was walking home from a trip to the convenience store when a volunteer patrolling the community called the non-emergency police line. The man thought Martin looked “suspicious” and ignored a police dispatcher’s direction not to follow Martin. Martin was shot and killed.

September 2013: Jonathan Ferrell was shot and killed in Charlotte, North Carolina. ​ Ferrell crashed his car and went to a house in the neighborhood for help. The resident called the police and three officers arrived. Ferrell ran towards them and one of the officers attempted to fire a taser at him. Ferrell was shot 12 times and killed.

November 2013: Renisha McBride was shot and killed while asking for help from a ​ house in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. McBride got into a car accident and knocked at the door of a nearby house for help. The resident fired a shot through the screen door, killing McBride.

July 2014: Eric Garner was killed by a NYPD officer during an incident in the Staten Island ​ borough of New York City. NYPD officers approached Garner on suspicion of selling single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps. After Garner told them he was tired of being harassed and was not selling cigarettes, the officers attempted to arrest him. Garner was restrained by multiple officers and put into a chokehold while lying face

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down on the sidewalk. Garner lost consciousness and was left on the sidewalk for seven minutes while officers waited for an ambulance. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

August 2014: Michael Brown was shot and killed during an encounter with police in ​ Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was walking with his friend when an officer ordered them to get on the sidewalk, nearly hitting them. The officer carried out an unnecessary use of excessive force on Brown, from slamming his door into Brown and grabbing him by the neck. Brown attempted to free himself, but the officer shot him. Brown and his friend were then chased by the officer. Brown was unarmed and had his hands up, yet was shot several times and killed.

August 2014: In Beavercreek, Ohio, John Crawford was shot and killed by police officers ​ ​ ​ in a Walmart. Crawford had picked up an unpackaged pellet gun and continued shopping when another customer called 911 claiming he had been pointing a gun at customers. Two officers arrived at the Walmart shortly after. Crawford was shot twice and later pronounced dead.

November 2014: 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by an officer in Cleveland, ​ ​ ​ Ohio. Rice was playing with a toy Airsoft gun outside of a recreation center when a passerby called 911 thinking it was real, then later told the operator it was fake. The 911 dispatcher did not pass on this information. Rice was shot twice in an encounter with officers who arrived at the scene. He died the following day.

April 2015: Walter Scott was shot and killed by a patrolman in Charleston, South ​ Carolina during a traffic stop. An officer pulled Scott over reportedly for a broken brake light. Scott ran thinking he would be arrested for fear that he could end up in jail for owing child support. The officer shot at unarmed Scott eight times and killed him.

July 2015: Sandra Bland died in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas, after an encounter ​ with the police using excessive force. What started out as a minor traffic violation escalated into an officer forcefully removing Bland from her car, slamming her to the ground and handcuffing her face down. Bland was held in county jail for three days on charge of assaulting an officer. Bland was also not given the proper supervision to ensure she was not a danger to herself. Bland was found dead in her cell in what was ruled a suicide.

October 2015: Corey Jones was shot and killed by a plainclothes police officer while ​ waiting by his car in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Jones’ car broke down and he was waiting for help when an officer approached him in an unmarked van. The officer failed to identify himself and acted so aggressively that Jones, a concealed weapons permit holder, grabbed his gun and ran. Jones was shot and killed. The officer was the first in the state of Florida to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years.

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July 2016: In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Alton Sterling was shot and killed during an ​ ​ ​ ​ altercation with two police officers responding to a disturbance call. Witness videos show the officers telling Sterling to get on the ground, and then tackling and pinning him to the ground. Sterling was shot several times and killed.

July 2016: Philando Castile was killed during a traffic stop near Minneapolis, Minnesota. ​ He was in the car with his fiancée and four-year-old daughter. Castile told the officer that he had a gun that he was licensed to carry. Castille then told the officer he was ​ ​ reaching for his wallet and ID before he was shot. Castille’s girlfriend streamed video live ​ on Facebook of the shooting aftermath, reigniting debates and protests about police treatment of Black citizens.

September 2016: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Keith Scott was shot and killed outside of ​ ​ ​ his home by police officers who were searching for another suspect. Scott was in his car in the parking lot of his apartment complex when officers claimed he was armed and posed an “imminent threat.” Scott was shot and killed by an officer after they reportedly asked Scott to drop his weapon.

September 2016: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Terence Crutcher was shot and killed during an ​ ​ ​ encounter with the police after he was waiting for roadside assistance for his SUV. Officers arrived at the scene, responding to a disturbance call about an abandoned vehicle in the middle of the street. Crutcher walked toward his car with his hands in the air when he was shot and killed by officers following behind him.

April 2017: Jordan Edwards was shot and killed by an officer during an incident in Balch ​ Springs, Texas. The officers reportedly were responding to a nighttime 911 call of drunk underage kids at a large party. Upon arrival, the officers allegedly heard gunshots and partygoers were fleeing the scene. An officer fired three rounds into a car, striking unarmed Edwards in the head and killing him on the scene.

March 2018: Stephon Clark was shot and killed in Sacramento, California by two officers ​ in the backyard of his grandmother’s home while he had only a phone in his hand. The officers assumed that unarmed Clark was pointing a gun at them and shot him eight times.

September 2018: Botham Jean was shot and killed in his own apartment by a police ​ officer in Dallas, Texas. The officer was off-duty but in uniform. She entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own and that Jean was an intruder. Jean was shot twice and killed.

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October 2019: Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed in her home while playing video ​ games with her nephew in Forth Worth, Texas. Jefferson’s neighbor had called a non-emergency police line saying that he wanted someone to make sure that Jefferson and her nephew were okay after seeing their door open. When police arrived, they walked around the home instead of announcing themselves at the front door. Jefferson was shot and killed after an officer fired at a window from her backyard.

February 2020: Ahmaud Arbery was jogging in his neighborhood outside Brunswick, ​ Georgia when he was shot and killed by two armed white men who had chased him down in a pickup truck. The men reportedly mistook Arbery for a suspect in a string of neighborhood break-ins. They were arrested in May 2020 and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.

March 2020: In Kentucky, Louisville police crashed into the apartment of Breonna ​ ​ Taylor, executing a “no-knock” search warrant for a drug investigation. Since police ​ entered Taylor’s home without knocking or announcing, Taylor’s boyfriend fired a single shot thinking it was a break-in, and officers opened fire. Taylor was shot eight times and killed. The warrant in question targeted another person, who had already been detained by the time police entered Taylor’s home.

May 2020: A Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, after a deli employee called ​ ​ ​ 911 and accused Floyd of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Shortly after the first squad car arrived at the scene, an officer pulled Floyd out of the car and landed him face down on the ground while handcuffed. Two officers held Floyd’s legs down while another officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after.

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Modern Context – Accountability Barriers and Reform

Role of Police Unions Police unions often erect structural obstacles to change. Across the country, police unions have used the collective bargaining process (i.e. contracts) to essentially grant them immunity from liability. In a study of police union contracts in 81 of the 100 largest cities in the U.S., 72 included at least one type of barrier to , from disqualifying misconduct complaints to preventing officers from being interrogated after being involved in an incident.39

In most departments, officers accused of misconduct are subject to internal affairs investigations that determine whether they violated department policies. Officers found to have violated department policies are disciplined by police chiefs, superintendents and/or police boards. The multi-year contracts negotiated by police unions ensure that discipline may be appealed,typically through arbitration, by bringing in outside lawyers who specialize in labor law to review the punishments and rule on the appeals.40

Grievance and arbitration proceedings are often the largest part of any union contract. In New York City, for example, they comprise five pages of the police officers’ 29-page contract. Grievance proceedings allow both unions and individual officers to challenge disciplinary actions by superiors. If a sergeant disciplines an officer, the officer or his union representative can appeal to a lieutenant, and so on up the chain of command. If the matter remains unsettled, it can be appealed to binding arbitration. The difficulty in dealing with grievances can deter supervisors against weeding out poor performers—or even force them to rehire known troublemakers, sometimes with deadly consequences.

Additionally, union contracts allow—and sometimes require—expunging officers’ records of past disciplinary actions or accusations of misconduct (ex. Baltimore). In Cleveland, a Justice Department investigation into the

39 https://www.checkthepolice.org/#project ​ 40 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/tired-bad-cops-first-look-their-labor-unions/ ​

Page | 16 ​ police department was hindered because the union contract required the deletion of disciplinary records every two years. These policies allow officers who have violated the public trust to take police jobs in new cities without record of their past infractions and deprive reviewers of accurate personnel files, making organizational reform impossible. The Washington Post determined that, since 2006, the U.S.’ largest police departments have fired at least 1,881 officers for misconduct but more than 450 of those officers were reinstated after they appealed and were able to make use of the generous disciplinary review procedures required by union contracts.41

Furthermore, in at least 50 cities, those investigating misconduct must wait at least 48 hours before interviewing a suspected officer, per provisions in union contracts. Opponents claim this period aims to help officers meet with an attorney and union representatives, who are usually present during questioning, and help develop a strategy to avoid accountability.42

In some departments, union contracts have provisions requiring that officers have access to information - that civilians do not get - prior to an investigation. Some contracts further require that an officer be notified of all evidence against him or her prior to being investigated. In Corpus Christi, Texas, for example, an officer must be given the name of the complainant prior to being interrogated, which may discourage civilians from filing complaints in the first place.43

The Current State – Assessment of Existing Efforts to Reduce Police Brutality While the national total of people killed by police nationwide has remained steady from 2013-2019, the numbers have dropped significantly in America’s 30 most populous cities, likely due to reforms to use-of-force ​ ​ policies implemented in the wake of high-profile deaths.44 While the numbers have decreased in the largest cities, police killings in suburban and rural areas have increased. These trends also correlate with decreases in declining numbers of people in jail per capita as well as declining arrest rates in cities.

Various localities, as detailed below, have implemented measures to curb police brutality in response to police controversies.

41 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/tired-bad-cops-first-look-their-labor-unions/ ​ 42 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/melissasegura/police-unions-history-minneapolis-reform-george-floyd?ncid=newsl tushpmgnews 43 https://www.checkthepolice.org/#project ​ 44 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/police-are-killing-fewer-people-in-big-cities-but-more-in-suburban-and-rural-america/

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City Notable Case of Police Brutality Current Reform Measures Bay Area In 2009, Oscar Grant III was killed by a single BART established a citizen oversight board and ​ ​ shot to the back from a Bay Area Rapid hired an independent police auditor to assess Transit officer as he lay face down on the the department and make audit reports ​ ​ 45 train platform. The officer asserted that he available to the public each month. mistakenly used his service revolver when he wanted to grab a Taser.

Chicago Former Police Commander John Burges was In January 2015, Chicago police began a convicted in 2010 for perjury about leading a two-month pilot program that provided 30 20-year torture ring that routinely used officers with body cameras. Due to the success electric shock, suffocation and genital of the pilot, thousands of patrol officers will be attacks to obtain confessions from more required to wear AXON II body cameras by late than 100 black men. 2017 and expanded to 22 districts by early 2018. 46

Los Rodney King was caught by the LA police Following the Rodney King beating, the LAPD Angeles after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991. implemented a series of reforms including an The officers pulled him out of the car and independent civilian oversight commission, beat him brutally, while an amateur rigorous use of force investigation and cameraman caught it on videotape. When a disciplinary process, and publishing detailed use 47 jury acquitted the police officers who beat of force information on the website. LAPD also Rodney King, it set off the LA riots of 1992. shifted to community-based policing with the force better reflecting the composition of the residents. Today, LAPD is 45% Hispanic, 13% ​ 48 African-American and 20% female. New Four highly-public use of force cases In 2012, in an effort to overhaul years of Orleans occurred in New Orleans post-Hurricane constitutional abuses, training deficiencies and Katrina, all of which prompted major federal racial discrimination by the NOPD, the Justice investigations. The most notable incident Department instituted a consent decree. The ​ was the Danziger Bridge Shooting, where court-mandated reform program was the most officers were charged with firing at unarmed sweeping police overhaul imposed on a force. citizens who had sought shelter on the Mandated reforms included public posting of bridge following the storm. Officers killed arrest and use of force data, improved officer ​ two people and gravely wounded four training, community-oriented policing, and others. In total, five officers were charged stricter criteria concerning use of force. NOPD is for deprivation of civil rights and attempted

45 http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2010/news20100716 ​ 46 http://wgntv.com/2015/01/21/chicago-police-to-begin-wearing-body-cameras-today/ ​ 47 http://www.lapdonline.org/categorical_use_of_force_2014 ​ 48 http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/12/15/370952512/lapd-chief-has-lessons-to-share-about-departments-past-g hosts

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cover-up. In a separate post-Katrina case, required to abide by the consent decree until ​ 49 three officers were convicted for shooting 2016. civilian Henry Glover and burning his body in a cover-up attempt. Furthermore, FBI agents are assigned full-time to NOPD to partner with officers on all investigations of serious uses of force by police officers. In late 2016, the NOPD launched a sophisticated new personnel management tool, INSIGHT, aimed at helping supervisors intervene and support officers before they exhibit 50 problematic behavior.

However, in February 2015, NOPD eliminated ​ their higher education requirement of 60 hours of college credit or two years of military experience for recruits. This is concerning as ​ studies clearly show that higher education significantly reduces the likelihood that officers will use force as their first option in subduing 51 citizens. ​ New Eric Garner died while being arrested by NYPD implemented a three-day retraining ​ York Officer Daniel Panteleo. Officer Pantaleo period on properly using force when dealing ​ held Mr. Garner in what William J. Bratton, with a suspect, including how to avoid physical the New York City police commissioner, said altercations and safely bring suspects into appeared to be a chokehold. The New York custody. The training also included leadership 52 City medical examiner determined that Mr. and cultural sensitivity coursework. Garner’s death was a homicide, caused by a chokehold and compression of his chest during an attempted arrest.

Successful department change has typically occurred at the local leadership level. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has been commended by The Obama Administration as a leader in this regard. In an interview with National Public Radio, Chief Beck advised other cities to proactively tackle their challenges of racial bias stating, "I don't want

49 http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/07/federal_consent_decree_outline.html ​ 50 http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/08/nopd_reforms_mitch_landrieu.html ​ 51 http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/02/chief_harrison_tells_staff_nop.html ​ 52 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/nyregion/bratton-outlines-overhaul-in-training-for-new-york-city-police-officers.htm l?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1

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53 people to have to have their city go up in flames like Los Angeles did in 1992 to learn these lessons." Under his tenure, the LAPD has instituted some of its most progressive reform programs, including diverse hiring practices and a Community Safety Partnership, where officers engage communities in public housing projects to build trust where it is needed most. The program has 45 officers who will serve for five years at housing projects in 54 Watts. There they will hear community needs and collaborate on making requested changes.

The Way Forward – Institutional Reforms There are local, state and national reforms that can improve accountability, minimize lethal encounters, and increase faith in police forces. Specific recommendations include:

1. Adopt Police Department Budgets that Reflect Local Priorities and Needs The Center for Popular Democracy found that in the nation’s largest cities, police spending vastly outpaces expenditures in vital community resources and services; per the graph below, police spending represents more than a quarter of city budgets in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Orlando.55

Source: Forbes ​

With unemployment at historically high levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic and federal funding for public assistance set to expire in July 2020,56 widespread economic hardship has prompted a conversation at local,

53 http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/12/15/370952512/lapd-chief-has-lessons-to-share-about-departments-past-g hosts 54 http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Interim_TF_Report.pdf ​ 55 https://populardemocracy.org/news/publications/freedom-thrive-reimagining-safety-security-our-communities ​ 56 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/06/03/cares-act-protections-including-600-unemployment-benefits-expi re-next-month-heres-what-needs-to-happen-to-avoid-more-economic-devastation/#771529805138

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state and national levels about how taxpayer dollars are spent. The confluence of pressing economic issues and national attention on police brutality is fueling movements to reimagine policing and reallocate city budgets.

At the local level, city officials should use tools including surveys and public forums to understand residents’ current priorities and needs, which likely have changed significantly over the past few months, and use the data to inform immediate and long-term resource allocation decisions.

A recent case study includes The People’s Budget LA, a Los Angeles initiative that surveyed thousands of ​ ​ residents about city spending priorities and spearheaded a campaign to advocate for changes to the city’s budget. On June 3, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the city would work to identify $250 million for further investments in community programs, including cuts to LAPD’s budget.57 On June 5, the City Council President introduced a motion to cut up to $150 million from the LAPD budget, to be reinvested in communities of color.58

2. Require Comprehensive Reporting of Lethal Force Instances from Police Departments In the U.S., there are 18,000 police departments yet no federal law requiring them to disclose instances of lethal force or severe injury.59 At the federal level, Congress should pass legislation requiring data collection and disclosure for all police departments in the country and establish penalties and remedies for non-compliance.60 Additionally, Congress should create an independent, national officer records database that would help track officers with histories of misconduct and abuse against citizens, and discharge officers who present a threat to public safety based on prior conduct.

According to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the U.S. Attorney General is required to “acquire data about use of force by law enforcement officers” and to “publish an annual summary of the data acquired.”61 However, as of June 2020, only 25 of the 100 largest police departments require officers to report all uses of force, including threatening another civilian with a firearm.62 ​ Comprehensive reporting has not been effectively accomplished; there continues to be a need for public information about police violence. Cities and departments should maintain a transparent, online database tracking every stop, frisk, summons, use of force, arrest and killing, as well as data for each interaction including race, gender, time, place, reason and any other consideration that could help detect bias.

3. Limit and Establish Procedures for Use of Force Efforts that push police departments to adopt more restrictive use of force policies can substantially reduce the number of people killed by police in the US. Stricter standards for police use of deadly force include:

57 https://www.instagram.com/p/CBALKIVlkmD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link ​ 58 https://peoplesbudgetla.com/2020/06/05/peoples-budget-la-150-million-in-cuts-proposed-to-lapd-is-a-start-but-city-counc il-and-mayor-garcetti-need-to-go-much-further/ 59 https://eji.org/issues/policing-in-america/ ​ 60 Id. 61 Id line 59. 62 https://8cantwait.org/compare/ ​

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● Requiring officers to de-escalate situations by communicating with subjects, maintaining distance, and otherwise eliminating the need to use force ● Barring officers from using chokeholds and lethal force, such as strangling, which results in serious injury or unnecessary death ● Authorizing deadly force only when there is an imminent threat to an officer's life and all other possible means have been exhausted ● Requiring that officers give a verbal warning, when possible, before using deadly force and give subjects a reasonable amount of time to comply with the warning ● Requiring officers to intervene and stop excessive force used by other officers and to report these incidents immediately to a supervisor

4. Reduce Police Militarization and Improve Firearm Regulations Following the 2014 Michael Brown shooting and subsequent police militarization demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri, President Obama took steps to mitigate federal programs that equip local police with surplus military technology, namely the 1033 program referenced earlier in the memo. Through an executive order, the president created the Interagency Law Enforcement Equipment Working Group to examine current programs and recommend reforms to guarantee officers receiving the equipment also undergo thorough training about proper use and "the protection of civil rights and civil liberties" of local 63 citizens. Ending federal incentives for purchasing military equipment is the first step towards reduced militarization. Militarized SWAT teams are expensive to maintain and, without federal funding, they would eventually reduce in scope.

Additionally, legislators should pass laws that return SWAT teams to their original purpose. The use of SWAT teams and no-knock raids should be restricted to emergencies that pose a threat to public safety and for issuing warrants to citizens suspected of violent crimes, rather than the uses in addressing minor offenses that occur today. Legislators should also mandate transparency around the use of SWAT teams. In ​ 2008, the state of Maryland passed a bill requiring its police agencies to issue biannual reports about how often they use their SWAT teams, for what purpose, what the searches found, and whether any shots were fired – other localities should follow suit. It is apparent that there has been a significant increase in the number of SWAT teams and the frequency of use. However, a meaningful discussion about police militarization is not possible without better information about its pervasiveness.

Reducing the threat citizens pose to police officers would correspondingly alleviate the police’s siege mindset. Increasingly sophisticated weaponry being legally sold to US civilians is forcing police to keep up. ​ This arms race means police officers have legitimate fears about the nature of the firepower they are routinely confronting. Strengthening gun regulations to minimize availability and improper purchasing is an equal part of the solution.

5. Improve Police Oversight Independent, impartial oversight boards are an additional way to reduce conditions fostering . Citizen review boards, for instance, can function as a community mechanism for hearing

63 http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/229816-obama-orders-review-of-police-militarization ​

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complaints, independently auditing arrest and use of force data, and identifying problem areas. Too often citizen review boards are advisory in nature due to opposition from police unions and chiefs. To operate successfully, oversight boards should be empowered with investigative capacity, including the ability to subpoena records and review internal investigations and personnel records. The Los Angeles civilian oversight board is one of the strongest with independent investigative authority and subpoena power.

6. Eliminate Removing the “qualified immunity” doctrine, or U.S. Supreme Court Section 1983, is another way to deter police officers from using deadly excessive force and reduce the culture of impunity within law enforcement. Qualified immunity is a U.S. federal law that shields police officers and other government officials from liability for alleged rights violations, enabling ongoing police violence and misconduct. According to the Cato Institute, the Supreme Court is currently considering eight different cert petitions on qualified immunity; yet, the majority of the cases did not involve any clear and present danger to police.64 Ending qualified immunity would restore the ability for citizens to obtain relief when police officers violate their constitutional rights. Additionally, it would provide a powerful incentive for municipalities to restructure their law enforcement agencies and adopt policies that reduce abuses of power.

7. Engage Community Members and Third Party Groups Varied racial demographics offer divergent responses to the question, “Is my neighborhood protected?” This provides a critical insight into understanding how communities experience the police. Tackling the long-standing conflict and misunderstanding between minorities and law enforcement is integral to successful policing. Community based policing, which emphasizes collaborative partnerships and problem solving between police and the individuals they serve, is an approach to cultivating this trust.

In May 2015, The Justice Department concluded its investigation into law enforcement practices in Ferguson, Missouri and community policing was among the primary recommendations for reform. In response, Ferguson’s new police chief, Alan Eickhoff, started programs to better integrate his officers into the community by putting them on more bike patrols and encouraging them to walk the beat and speak with residents. Promoting regular meetings and dialogues with community members in this manner improves public trust.

Engaging with nonprofits and police associations is equally important in preventing future abuses as they can reach community members and law enforcement with important information, influence perceptions, and stir action. For instance, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) provides timely information about police brutality cases and publishes manuals for citizens on accurately reporting abuses and positively engaging with police officers. Similarly, the International Chiefs of Police Association (IACP) reaches the law enforcement community with extensive research on public perceptions of police, including their honest and ethical treatment of civilians and behavior towards minority demographics.

8. Improve Police Training

64 https://www.cato.org/blog/may-15th-supreme-court-will-finally-decide-whether-hear-cases-calling-abolition-qualified ​

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Current mainstream training does not effectively teach officers how to interact with communities in a way that protects and preserves life. For instance, police recruits spend 58 hours learning how to shoot firearms 65 and only eight hours learning how to de-escalate situations.

Seven months after the shooting in Ferguson, the Justice Department issued a scathing report about policing and court practices in the Missouri city. Investigators determined that in nearly every aspect of Ferguson’s 66 law enforcement system, “ are impacted a severely disproportionate amount.” The report also included racist emails sent by police and municipal court supervisors that showed repeated examples of racial bias in law enforcement.

Mental shortcuts that can become common when officers “work in environments where a hugely 67 disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color.” Training for local police on implicit racial bias and maintaining impartial policing is therefore necessary to increase police ​ responsiveness to, sensitivity to, and understanding of citizens and their communities.

Organizations such as The National Coalition of Law Enforcement Officers for Justice, Reform and Accountability are leading these efforts. This coalition comprises current and former law enforcement officers from around the nation and its mission to fight institutional racism in the criminal justice system and police culture, and to push for accountability for police officers that abuse their power.

9. Strengthen Recruiting Practices The principle of matching the racial composition of a police department to that of the city, within reason, is now widely accepted in law enforcement circles. The US Department of Justice holds that “a diverse law enforcement agency can better develop relationships with the community it serves, promote trust in the fairness of law enforcement, and facilitate effective policing by encouraging citizen support and 68 cooperation.” Recruitment of a diverse workforce is another step in improving community relations.

Many police departments currently go beyond basic prerequisites and expect recruits to have completed college coursework and undergone a psychological evaluation. Data confirms the connection between police education and behavior – officers with a college degree are less likely to use force to gain compliance and display more creative problem solving skills. Police departments should consider instituting higher education requirements and facilitating continual education opportunities for their officers.

10. Implement Body Camera and Methods of Police Surveillance

65 http://www.joincampaignzero.org/train ​ 66 http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_rep ort.pdf 67 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2015/02/13/fbi-director-james-comeys-unprecedented-speech- on-race/ 68 http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=466&issue_id=122004 ​

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Body cameras are not the magic bullet that will solve police brutality, but rather an element of comprehensive reform. Body cameras have shown to be important tools for holding police officers accountable. Nearly every case where a police officer was charged with a crime for killing a civilian in 2015 ​ ​ relied on video evidence showing the officer's actions.69

About 80% of large departments with 500 or more full-time officers had body cameras in 2016, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In comparison, only about 31% of small police departments with part-time officers did. For many departments, the cost of body cameras remains the primary concern preventing full ​ ​ adoption.Among police agencies that did not have the cameras, the primary reason given was cost, including video storage/disposal, hardware costs and ongoing maintenance, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.70

11. Eliminate Quota Requirements Police performance reviews often include goals and metrics for stops, arrests, and summonses. A negative consequence of the organizational pressure on officers to meet these quotas is the increased targeting of minority communities and areas. Robert Gangi, Director of the Police Reform Organizing Project, describes this cycle stating, "Though police brass will deny it, here's how the quota system works and does harm: Precinct Captains or Lieutenants, under pressure from police headquarters, direct officers to meet specific goals regarding arrests and summonses and deploy the officers in particular neighborhoods.”71 Rather than a quota-driven approach, good policing should be measured by the quality of police actions, actual impact in crime reduction, and community satisfaction.

Civic Engagement in Creating Reform Citizens can support these reforms by engaging their local officials. “Down Ballot” or local elections determine ​ key officials who are critical to reforming police departments and the criminal justice system at state and local levels. For example, most police chiefs are appointed by Mayors and County Officials; additionally, mayors and County Officials are also often responsible for renegotiating police union contracts.

Local policy change is the focus of recent 2020 reform initiatives, including Campaign Zero’s #8CantWait ​ campaign, calling on mayors to take immediate action to adopt data-driven policy solutions that can decrease police violence by 72% as well as the Obama Foundation’s Mayor’s Pledge led by the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance calling on mayors to commit to review, report and reform police use of force policies. In light of increased public pressure, at least 107 laws across 41 states have been enacted from 2014-2019 to address 72 police violence. Local ordinances have been passed in many of America's largest cities as well.

At the federal level, new police reform legislation aims to hold police officers accountable for misconduct in civil and criminal court. The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is a broad civil rights and police reform bill introduced by

69 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-chicago-cop-is-the-latest-to-be-charged-using-video-evidence/ ​ 70https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/01/14/body-cameras-may-not-be-the-easy-an swer-everyone-was-looking-for 71 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/02/nypd-quotas_n_5916596.html ​ 72 http://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action ​

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Democrats in Congress, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The new legislation aims to ban chokeholds, establish a national database to track police misconduct, prohibit no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and limit military equipment, among other measures.73 Notably, the bill contains proposals to eliminate “qualified immunity” - the legal doctrine that shields officers from lawsuits - and make lynching a federal crime.74 Another section of the bill would change federal law so that victims of excessive force and other violations need only show that officers deprived them of their rights.

Successful Reforms Case Studies

City Reform Success

Seattle, WA An investigation of the Seattle police force was ● During a 28-month span launched following questionable use of force against from 2014 to 2016, minorities, leading to a settlement with the incidents in which Seattle Department of Justice in 2012 overhauling police officers used force that training and procedures. caused or could be ● Community Police Commission: The expected to cause injury ​ Commission was instituted as part of the fell at least 60 percent settlement with the Department of Justice. from a similar period in Community volunteer commissioners are 2009 to 2011 nominated by the Mayor to represent ● Minorities are no longer Seattle’s diversity across identity categories, more likely to be subject and provide ongoing community-based to serious force than oversight of the Seattle Police Department. whites ● Independent federal monitor: The Seattle ● Approval rates of the ​ monitor team, composed of law enforcement police force among black professionals across disciplines (past officers, residents jumped from lawyers, psychologists) monitor the 49% in 2013 to 62% in implementation of the 2012 decree. 2016 ● Body camera pilot project: In 2014, SPD ​ worked with the ACLU and Community Police Commission to determine policies for a dozen officers to pilot the use of body cameras, which are now mandatory for the SPD ● Police accountability legislation: Legislation ​ was passed shifting the city’s mechanisms for oversight toward a more civilian driven

73 https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/democrats-unveil-broad-police-reform-bill-pledge-to-transform-law-enforce ment/2020/06/08/1ed07d7a-a992-11ea-94d2-d7bc43b26bf9_story.html 74 https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fact_sheet_justice_in_policing_act_of_2020.pdf ​

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process, while doubling down on officer accountability reviews

Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s history of ● A 2017 study assessing the deadly force drew the criticism from civil rights benefits of body cams in leaders and its local community. In 2010, The Las the LVPD found a 37% Vegas Journal Review released a six-part investigative reduction in the number of series, “Deadly Force: When Las Vegas Police Shoot, officers involved in and Kill.” In the report, independent experts who use-of-force incidents and analyzed 20 years’ worth of Vegas police shooting a 30% decrease in the data concluded that most of the deadly force number of officers with at incidents could have been avoided. The article least one complaint filed prompted the Department of Justice to investigate against them the force’s culture, training, and oversight— and ● For officers without outline reforms including: bodycams, use-of-force increased 4% ● Impartial policing class: a four-hour training ● Involved officer-involved ​ seminar was instituted where Las Vegas police shootings dropped from were educated about studies by social 25 in 2010 to six in 2015 psychologists showing that all humans are ● There were zero deadly prone to racial bias and techniques for force incidents involving ignoring bias during policing unarmed suspects in 2014 ● Reality-based field training: Emphasizes ​ conflict de-escalation in reality-based exercises. The drills take place in alleys, parking lots, and apartment units, and may involve potential carjackings or burglaries with suspects who run away or fight back – making them more ambiguous than prior training drills. Officers decide if, or how much, force is necessary in each scenario. Once they finish, an instructor provides feedback about that decision ● Body cameras: in 2013, Las Vegas became the ​ first major city to conduct a pilot program for body-worn cameras on police ● Accountability: before 2010, 97% of deadly ​ force incidents were validated by the department’s Use of Force Review Board. Las Vegas revised its Use of Force Review Board to allow civilian representatives to participate and to out-vote members of the department

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Cincinnati, OH In response to incidents claiming use of excessive ● Unlawful force complaints force by the Police Department, including from citizens dropped CPD being sued multiple times by private plaintiffs, from 782 in 2003 to 64 in the DoJ opened an official investigation in 2001. CPD 2007 entered into an agreement with the DoJ, the ACLU ● Documented use-of-force and Cincinnati Black United Front (CBUF) in 2002 incidents dropped from requiring compliance with the DoJ’s best practices for ~1100 in 2001 to ~600 in policing, including: 2007 ● Use-of-force guidelines: CPD agreed to draft ● Chemical irritants and ​ guidelines on a continuum providing physical force were techniques to avoid force and limitations on primarily replaced by the certain types of force use of tasers, which stun ● Required reporting: All use-of-force incidents but rarely cause long-term ​ were required to be reported, which would damage. Once tasers were then in some cases be subject to civilian an fully implemented, suspect internal review injuries dropped by 35% ● Early-warning system: Problem officers were ​ monitored by a system notifying them of failure to comply and threatening disciplinary action early ● Court-appointed monitor: CPD held ​ responsibility for implementation, but monitor assessed compliance via regular meetings, attending trainings, reviewing investigations, and analyzing use-of-force data

“Defund the Police” – Efforts and Outcomes The movement to “defund the police” advocates for divesting money from local and state police budgets and reinvesting in people and communities. More specifically, it calls for reallocating funds earmarked for policing to under-funded social services like education, mental health and housing.75 The concept generally refers to shrinking police responsibility by shifting certain duties of police officers to experts trained in areas like social work, education or drug counseling. As co-founder states, “When we talk about defunding the police, what we’re saying is, ‘Invest in the resources that our communities need.’”76

Currently, the cost of policing in the U.S. is $115 billion, and has tripled in the past four decades.77 Despite the significant decline in violent and property crime since the early 1990s, policing continues to comprise 20% to

75 https://fortune.com/2020/06/08/defund-the-police-what-does-it-mean-protests-george-floyd/ ​ 76 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/07/protests-defund-police/ ​ 77 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/15/what-it-actually-means-to-defund-the-police.html ​

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45% of discretionary funds in cities across the country in 2020.78 In most cities, spending on police is significantly greater than spending on services and other departments. In Los Angeles, for example, $1.8 billion in spending on police is more than half the city’s general fund.79

In response to the nationwide protests in the wake of George Flyod’s murder, local policymakers in some U.S. cities have supported some form of defunding or opposing budget increases, as detailed below.

City Outcome

Minneapolis, MN ● June 2020: Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously for a resolution to ​ defund the police and start a year-long process “of community engagement, research, and structural change to create a transformative new model for cultivating safety”80 ○ The resolution creates a “Future of Community Safety Work Group” which includes staff from city departments, including the offices of violence prevention and civil rights ● June 2020: Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arrodondo announced that the ​ police department is withdrawing from contract negotiations with the police union

New York, NY ● June 2020: Mayor Bill de Blasio has pledged to cut the NYPD’s $6 million ​ budget in some capacity and divert funds to youth and social services81

Los Angeles, CA ● June 2020: Mayor Eric Garcetti has pledged to cut $150 million from the ​ city’s police budget and redirect it to health and education programs for communities of color82

San Francisco, CA ● June 2020: Mayor London Breed announced she would redirect some funds ​ from the city’s police budget to the Black community83

Boston, MA ● June 2020: Mayor Marty Walsh announced $3 million, or 20%, from the ​ police overtime budget would be reallocated to social services in the 2021 fiscal year84

78 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-04/america-s-policing-budget-has-nearly-tripled-to-115-billion ​ 79 Id. 80 https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/File/3806/Transforming%20Community%20Safety%20Resolution.pdf ​ 81 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/nyregion/deblasio-nypd-funding.html ​ 82 https://twitter.com/MayorOfLA/status/1268349031542976512 ​ 83 https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Defund-the-police-Advocates-say-it-means-15328728.php ​ 84 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/protests-george-floyd-black-lives-matter.html#link-1ae153e2 ​

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Additional Resources

LEARN Confronting Individual Bias: ● Racial justice resource guide shared by Brittany Packnett, Activist, Co-founder of Campaign Zero, ​ ​ ​ MSNBC Contributor, and Co-host of American political podcast, Pod Save the People. Her audience also shared an additional racial justice resource guide containing Black movies, books, podcasts about racial ​ ​ ​ justice and the Black experience in America ● New York Times’ 2020 Antiracist Reading List ​ ● Medium article by Michelle Kim, Co-Founder and CEO, Awaken, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advocate, Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How ● Ibram X. Kendi, Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University’s article in the Atlantic, Who Gets To Be Afraid in America? ​ ● Medium article, 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice ​ ● Information from thought leaders including: ○ - public academic, writer and lecturer whose work and activism explore the ​ ​ intersection of race and womanhood. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including, The New Yorkers, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, and more ○ Luvvie Ajayi Jones - New York Times bestselling author and speaker whose work lies at the ​ ​ intersection of comedy and gender and racial justice ○ Brittany Packnett - Activist, Co-founder of Campaign Zero, MSNBC Contributor, and Co-host of ​ American political podcast, Pod Save the People, moderated June 3 Town Hall with President Barack Obama about reimagining policing ○ - New York Times bestselling author and speaker whose work focuses primarily on ​ ​ issues of race and identity, feminism, social and mental health and social justice ○ Tarana J. Burke - Activist and creator of the #MeToo Movement ​ ​

Confronting Systemic Racism: ● Voting ○ Brennan Center for Justice Petition to protect the 2020 election from COVID-19 ​ ​ ​ ○ ACLU report about voter suppression in 2020 ​ ○ Information and resources from promoting civic engagement and voting rights including: ■ WhenWeAllVote fights for safe and fair elections through voter registration drives and ​ public education ■ HeadCount uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in ​ democracy ■ Color of Change’s Petition to end violent policing against Black people ​ ​ ​ ● Policy Reform ○ Current Legislation in response to recent police brutality:

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■ Congressional resolution H.Res 988 introduced by Rep. Ayana Presssley and ​ co-sponsored by Reps. Omar, Bass, Lee, Ocasio-Cortez condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive and militarized force throughout the country ■ Congressional resolution H.R. 4408 first introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in the ​ aftermath of Eric Garner’s death in 2015 that would place a federal ban on the use of chokeholds or any pressure to the neck by the police ○ A public safety advocacy toolkit for fair, safe and effective community policing developed by ​ ​ President Obama’s Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights ○ Campaign Zero’s data-and research-informed policy solutions that communities can put in place ​ to end police violence and Use of Force Project, the first open-source database of police use of ​ ​ force policies for the 100 largest U.S. cities ○ A comprehensive report about bias and the use of force in policing developed by the Center for ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Policing Equity and Center Director, Phillip Atiba Goff’s TED talk on fighting racism and ​ ​ ​ ​ improving policing ○ The Opportunity Agenda’s recommendations for promoting accountability in law enforcement ​ through four mechanisms - community-based, political, civil, and criminal

DONATE Racial Justice Organizations ● ACLU works to preserve and extend constitutionally guaranteed rights to people who have historically ​ been denied their rights on the basis of race ● Black Lives Matter is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate ​ white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes ● NAACP Legal Defense Fund is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through ​ litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans ● Equal Justice Initiative works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality ​ through research, advocacy and public education ● The Bail Project pays bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of ​ innocence ● Color of Change is a national advocacy organization that creates campaigns to help people respond ​ effectively to injustice around the world, end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move society forward. ● Fair Fight is a political action committee (PAC) founded by Stacey Abrams that promotes fair elections in ​ Georgia and around the country, encourages voter participation in elections, and educates voters about elections and their voting rights ● Southern Poverty Law Center uses litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy to fight hate and ​ bigotry and seek justice for the most vulnerable members of our society ● National Police Accountability Project is a nonprofit promoting the accountability of law enforcement ​ officers and their employers for violations of the Constitution and the laws of the United States

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● Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the ​ United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. ● The Conscious Kid is an education, research and policy organization dedicated to reducing bias and ​ promoting positive identity development in youth by providing parents will tools and resources focused on underrepresented and marginalized groups ● Know Your Rights Camp - Co-founded by Colin Kaepernick in 2016, this organization aims to advance ​ Black and Brown youth education and self-empowerment through events and campaigns. KYRC recently started a legal defense initiative to assist protestors arrested in Minneapolis.

Black-Centered Mental Health Organizations

● National Alliance on Mental Illness’s webpage on the key issues that prevent African Americans from ​ ​ seeking treatment and receiving quality care and resources ● Black Mental Health Alliance is a trusted forum for culturally competent mental health programs & ​ ​ direct services for African-Americans & marginalized community, including a “Find a Therapist” locator ● Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM) works to remove the barriers that Black people ​ experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing through education, training, advocacy and the creative arts. ● Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women ​ and girls, offering a listing of mental health professionals across the country who provide high quality, culturally competent services to Black women and girls, an informational podcast and an online support community. ● Melanin and Mental Health Connects individuals with culturally competent clinicians committed to ​ serving the mental health needs of Black & Latinx/Hispanic communities. Promotes the growth and healing of diverse communities through its website, online directory and events. ● Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message (Text SHARE to 741741 for free, ​ ​ confidential crisis counseling) and is spotlighting Black mental health organizations on Twitter

LGBTQ+ Centered Organizations

● : Since 2017, this Black, queer, and trans-led Minnesota nonprofit organizes ​ campaigns to cut police budgets, invest in community-driven safety strategies, train activists, and celebrate Black joy ● LGBTQ+ Freedom Fund posts bond to secure the release and safety of LGBTQ people in jail and ​ ​ immigration detention across 15+ states ● The Solutions Not Punishment Coalition (SNaP Co) - Atlanta-based black, trans and queer-led ​ ​ ​ ​ abolitionist organization. Advocates for decreased prison spending and increased community-led safety initiatives ● Youth Breakout: New Orleans-based organization working to end criminalization of LGBTQ+ youth in ​ New Orleans through youth leadership training

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● ActBlue: Identified community bail funds including dedicated bail funds for protesters. Donation portal ​ ​ ​ ​ option to split donation among 38 community bail funds and advocacy groups ​ ​