Can’t We Just Reform The Police?

 

This section highlights recent calls for police accountability and reform, in particular the popular but heavily-criticized #8CantWait campaign. While these policy reforms have received support from politicians and celebrities, they do not align closely with the demands of protestors on the ground. Among many others, Human Rights Watch has notably argued that “The #8CantWait policing program is so superficial as to be meaningless.” The section also provides some historical context on previous attempts at police reform and their relative success and failures.

01

A series of policy suggestions that the authors contend can reduce police violence by 72%. Developed by activist Deray Mckesson and Campaign Zero. The platform has received popular support from many celebrities and politicians, including Oprah and former President Barack Obama. However, it has faced pointed criticism from many protesters and activists who argue Mckesson’s reforms in fact increase funding for the police, have long been in the books for many cities (New York, for example, banned chokeholds in 1993), and will have no significant impact.

The 8 steps of the platform are:

  • Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds

  • Require De-Escalation

  • Require Warning Before Shooting

  • Requires Exhaust All Alternatives Before Shooting

  • Duty to Intervene

  • Ban Shooting at Moving Vehicles

  • Require Use of Force Continuum

  • Require Comprehensive Reporting

02

Who will Hold the Police Accountable?

By Ted Alcorn, The Atlantic (July 25, 2019)

The story of Nashville’s attempt at creating an independent Civilian Oversight Board after the police murder of local resident and father of two, Jocques Clemmons, in 2016. It leads us through the eyes of Sheila Clemmons Lee, Jocque’s mother, who fought alongside her community to bring the Civilian Oversight Board to a citywide vote. It focuses, in particular, on the tensions between working-class Black and wealthier white residents of the city to come together in organizing for this change. Though a Civilian Board was eventually instituted, less than two weeks later, a Republican lawmaker hampered its authority. Nevertheless, city residents continue the “battle for police accountability” with some small gains.

03

Thousands of Complaints do Little to Change Police Ways

By Shaila Dewan and Serge F. Kovaleski, The New York Times (May 30, 2020)

This article shows how previous attempts at “police accountability” have produced little change. Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed George Floyd, has faced at least 17 misconduct complaints over the years, yet has never been admonished or fired. This article questions the success of “accountability” processes, many of which are already in place in cities across the U.S., showing that “it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer’s split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force.”

04

Reformist Reforms vs. Abolitionist Steps in Policing,

By Critical Resistance [infographic]

Critics of police reform contend that many of these reformist suggestions do not create systemic change in police departments and can often expand the reach of policing. This chart, by the grassroots Oakland-based organization Critical Resistance, lays out the potential impact of reforms in comparison to an abolitionist approach.

05

Justice in America: Police Accountability

Podcast I Ep 21
(February 26, 2020)

Josie Duffy and co-host Darnell Moore are joined by Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza, to discuss police accountability and explain why it’s so hard for the criminal justice system to hold police accountable.