Many issues that are primary drivers of mass incarceration cannot be remedied through government solutions alone. Issues such as broken families and mental health, both forever altered by over criminalization, cannot be simply be repaired through legislation. Civil Society has the unique capability to address certain social issues that government cannot, or to address them more effectively than government can. This section also addresses issues in which over-policing attempts to fix issues that should be handled through the community.
“‘Once they were out on the streets, experiencing the realities of the job, their results changed,’ Dr. Blumberg acknowledged. ‘Very bluntly, we found a significant drop in participants’ integrity scores. It sounds kind of shocking to me, but it appears that police work played a part in lowering participants’ commitment to ethical principles’.“
The Crime Report
April 2, 2019
Read More“What on earth does a victim's rights law have to do with a police officer demanding to conceal his identity from the public? According to the Rapid City Journal, the officer in question shot 21-year-old Kuong Gatlauk following a confrontation during a traffic stop. According to the police report, Gatlauk made statements intending some sort of self-harm and fled from a police vehicle. In a confrontation, he apparently threw a beer can at the trooper and then tackled the trooper and tried to steal the trooper's gun, according to this report. The trooper was able to keep his gun and shot the suspect twice.“
Reason Magazine
October 22, 2018
Read More“New Jersey is one of just four states that does not license police officers, a basic safeguard used nationwide to ensure bad cops don’t skirt the rules or move from town to town. Licensing is a practice common to dozens of other professions, from doctors to massage therapists, and even other public employees, such as municipal finance officers. Licensing helps ensure professional standards are uniform, upheld and bad actors are banned.“
Asbury Park Press
September 21, 2018
Read More“When backup arrived, Williams raised his gun in their direction and the officers fired, killing him. A few weeks later, Mader was ousted by the police department of Weirton, West Virginia, for failing to eliminate a threat. Mader is not alone. Across the country, police officers have been disciplined for doing what they believe is the right thing.“
The Marshall Project
September 17, 2018
Read More“Becker also addressed police shootings in his newsletter. If his child were shot by police, he wrote, ‘rather than blaming the cop, I’d be blaming myself and endlessly soul searching to figure out how I failed as a parent and why my kid grew up to be a punk.’ He added, ‘Based on the evidence of what I see on television, it often times appears to me that justice was delivered to the dead punk’.“
The Appeal
September 14, 2018
Read More“Instead of being part of the complex life of the city, this latest Spider-Man sees a black-and-white world of cops and robbers. He aids in state surveillance, standing unquestioningly alongside an overly idealized caricature of the police. He’s still friendly, but I don’t know if he’s part of the neighborhood now. “
Kotaku
September 12, 2018
Read More“But, ultimately, this trial—regardless of the outcome—underscores a narrative that is central to life in Chicago today, and in most American cities: the broadening gap between those who have and those who have not. Acree has taken to calling Chicago “a tale of two cities,” a shorthand description that has become so prevalent when people talk about the city’s trajectory that the mayor pointedly dismissed the characterization this summer. “
The New Yorker
September 11, 2018
Read More"The study found that merely seeing militarized units can erode public confidence in law enforcement and give off the impression that a police department is overfunded."
PBS News Hour
August 21, 2018
Read More"When Washington trains police, it teaches them not to see their role only as 'warriors,' but as 'guardians.' That's just one change, along with de-escalation training, to help police more safely interact with people exhibiting signs of mental illness. 'They’re going into communities, not war zones,' says the director."
Christian Science Monitor
August 16, 2018
Read More"A former Baltimore cop questions how a department with a nearly half-billion-dollar budget that is riven by rampant corruption and brutality, bloated overtime spending, and unaccounted for patrol officers can continue to justify its existence"
The Appeal
August 15, 2018
Read More"She said her daughter admitted to taking the snacks, but that police should have handled the situation differently. 'If you can't restrain these little kids, you need to find a different job,' Gowdy said. 'She should have never got tased'."
Cincinnati Enquirer
August 9, 2018
Read More"Stockton is one of six American cities taking part in a new experiment funded by the Department of Justice. (The others are Birmingham, Ala.; Pittsburgh; Gary, Ind.; Fort Worth; and Minneapolis.) The cities are beginning programs to promote racial reconciliation; to address the racial biases all of us carry; and to gain the community’s trust using an idea known as procedural justice."
New York Times
July 26, 2018
Read More"Scenes like this have been taking place across the Twin Cities thanks to the Lights On program, believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Instead of writing tickets for minor equipment problems, police officers are authorized to issue $50 coupons so motorists can have those problems fixed at area auto shops. Twenty participating police departments have given out approximately 660 coupons in a little more than a year."
Washington Post
July 7, 2018
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