Resources

This research report documents LGBTQ+ communities’ experiences with police and the disparate treatment they face. In collaboration with scholars from University of California, Irvine and University of the Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, this research uses a national probability sample to examine differences between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ people, as well as within the diverse LGBTQ+ community. Findings reveal that unique intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and socioeconomic status are associated with different experiences with and attitudes toward law enforcement. The report concludes with concrete recommendations for law enforcement and legislatures.

This 2023-2024 DOJ report finds that , “through a combination of poor leadership, retaliation, and a complete lack of internal accountability, LPD has created a system where officers can relentlessly violate the law.” Further, the DOJ states it has “reasonable cause to believe that the City of Lexington and the Lexington Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law” through its use of modern-day debtors prisons.

Every day, law enforcement agencies across the country search thousands of cellphones, typically incident to arrest. To search phones, law enforcement agencies use mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs), a powerful technology that allows police to extract a full copy of data from a cellphone — all emails, texts, photos, location, app data, and more — which can then be programmatically searched. As one expert puts it, with the amount of sensitive information stored on smartphones today, the tools provide a “window into the soul.”

This report documents the widespread adoption of MDFTs by law enforcement in the United States. Based on 110 public records requests to state and local law enforcement agencies across the country, our research documents more than 2,000 agencies that have purchased these tools, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We found that state and local law enforcement agencies have performed hundreds of thousands of cellphone extractions since 2015, often without a warrant. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such records have been widely disclosed.

Every American is at risk of having their phone forensically searched by law enforcement.

Over the past decade, large urban counties have implemented ShotSpotter, a gun fire detection technology, across the USA. It uses acoustic listening devices to identify discharged firearms’ locations. We examined the effect of ShotSpotter within the 68 large metropolitan counties in the USA from 1999 to 2016. We identified ShotSpotter implementation years through publicly available media. ShotSpotter did not display protective effects for all outcomes. Counties in states with permit-to-purchase firearm laws saw a 15% reduction in firearm homicide incidence rates; counties in states with right-to-carry laws saw a 21% increase in firearm homicide incidence rates. Results suggest that implementing ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on firearm-related homicides or arrest outcomes. Policy solutions may represent a more cost-effective measure to reduce urban firearm violence.

An extensive investigation by Cerise Castle into more than five decades of abuse, terror, and murder carried out by gangs within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

This edition updates those findings through the 2022-23 school year with analysis of 372 assaults and includes additional data points, such as the geographic region in which assaults occurred and whether the assault was carried out by a sworn police officer or security guard. This edition also provides analysis specifically for the 2022-23 school year. These updated findings highlight the extent to which policing students places them at risk of both physical assault and sexual violence perpetrated by school police and security guards.

This report highlights the disproportionate arrests of Black and Latinx youth by the Pomona Police Department (PPD). Our goal is to center the malpractices of a police department that does not receive the same attention as a large metropolitan police department yet suffers from similar systemic issues of racial injustice and police brutality. In response to the question “Where is justice needed most?” justice is needed most for Black and Latinx youth in Pomona, California. We honor the work of youth, parents, and community activists, as well as a social action nonprofit organization, Gente Organizada, who together have demanded accountability from its city leaders and PPD for the mistreatment of youth.

An annotated version of the indictment filed against #StopCopCity organizers, featuring critical information and context, questions for discussion, ways to fight back, and additional resources.

This report asks us to face the impact centuries of systemic racism and economic inequality in Philadelphia have had on our criminal legal justice system. It puts numbers to a problem. It is a starting point for all people of good will to think together and work together to defeat racism in criminal justice.

On the numbers, there are staggering disparities in outcomes by race that often connect to race discrimination and to economic inequality. The District Attorney is sworn to seek justice, which clearly requires fighting against racism. But the results of centuries of oppression cannot be understood much less undone by any single actor. In releasing this report, and the different outcomes it highlights, I am calling on all Philadelphians to try to understand these disparities, to determine their causes and effects, and to work together to fix them.