From Wonkblog, police chases kill more people each year than floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and lightning — combined. Inae Oh on how more police are killed in states with higher levels of gun ownership. James Lartey on how 2015 may be one of the safest years for law enforcement in a quarter century. Policing and the “Ferguson Effect”: Researchers and law enforcement officials say cops are afraid to do their jobs due to their portrayal on social media — recent events suggest otherwise. In the end, 2015 saw no “war on cops” and no “national crime wave”. No, protests against police brutality are not increasing crime. Why do American cops kill so many compared to European cops? Put more women on patrol to decrease police brutality, says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Are we training cops to be hyper-aggressive “warriors”? Thanks in part to the Black Lives Matter movement, police training is coming under fresh scrutiny. Creating guardians, calming warriors: A new style of training for police recruits emphasizes techniques to better de-escalate conflict situations.
Ta-Nehisi Coates on the paranoid style of American policing: When officers take the lives of those they are sworn to protect and serve, they undermine their own legitimacy. Policing under review: Discord among Americans on the nature of policing has law enforcement officials, community leaders and lawmakers searching for solutions. Vann R. Newkirk on what we are getting wrong about police reform. The next fight for racial justice is police union reform: Deep in the weeds of union contract agreements lie provisions that protect cops from oversight. Kimberly Kindy and Julie Tate on how police withhold videos despite vows of transparency — but officers investigated in fatal shootings are routinely given access to body camera footage. Caren Morrison on how the justice system fails us after police shootings. The Tamir Rice case shows how prosecutors twist grand juries to protect police. Kate Levine (NYU): Police Suspects; and Who Shouldn’t Prosecute the Police. The Counted: The Guardian is tracking people killed by police in the United States (and more).
