Resources

Police sexual misconduct is often considered a hidden crime that routinely goes unreported. The current study provides an empirical data on cases of sex-related police crime at law enforcement agencies across the United States. The study identifies and describes incidents where sworn law enforcement officers were arrested for one or more sex-related crimes through analysis of published newspaper articles and court records. Findings indicate that police sexual misconduct includes serious forms of sex-related crime and that victims of sex-related police crime are typically younger than 18 years of age.

This report examines false confessions, and in particular the misunderstood typology of “coerced-internalized” false confessions. These confessions are made by individuals who falsely confess, but truly believe in their guilt despite objective evidence to the contrary. The case example of Billy Wayne Cope will be discussed at length, including the reported South Carolina Court of Appeal case, the transcripts of experts and the accused from trial, as well as an discussion of the extensive television documentary highlighting the possibility that Cope was wrongfully convicted. By looking at the specific words and reasoning of Billy Wayne Cope, this paper attempts to examine the impact of one of the
most unique and misunderstood forms of false confessions, and to suggest what needs to be done differently in the future to prevent further miscarriages of justice.

Recent DNA exonerations have shed light on the problem that people sometimes confess to crimes they did not commit. Drawing on police practices, laws concerning the admissibility of confession evidence, core principles of psychology, and forensic studies involving multiple methodologies, this White Paper summarizes what is known about police-induced confessions. This review identifies factors that influence confessions as well as their effects on judges and juries. This article concludes with a strong recommendation for the mandatory electronic recording of interrogations and considers other possibilities for the reform of interrogation practices and the protection of vulnerable suspect populations.

Campaign Zero evaluated the policing practices of San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and San Diego Sheriff’s Department (SDSD). Results show both departments to be engaged in a pattern of discriminatory policing.

Over the course of 2019, Local Progress engaged local elected officials and community leaders in a range of communities to evaluate their localities’ policing practices using the Reform/Transform toolkit. Those evaluations have produced the first results of the Reform/Transform toolkit in 12 cities: Chicago, Dallas, Durham, Louisville, Madison, Minneapolis, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

The People’s Audit (2013) is intended to present the limited information that is available to date, highlight the lack of information available to the public, and reflect LA residents’ viewpoints on these unjust policies that are broadly enforced under the pretext of national security. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Order 1 (SO 1), as well as the iWATCH program and Intelligence Gathering Guidelines, criminalize innocent behavior, break down trust, provoke violence, and plant informants in response to anonymous tips.

The compilation of this report includes interviews with people in affected communities and family members as well as survey responses from defense attorneys and insights from advocates. This is not intended to be a quantitative research report. The report is intended to highlight what we know, currently, about gang policing practices in New York City. This report is limited to policing and, to a lesser extent, prosecution strategies. This report also is limited in its analysis on gangs or gang culture. The expert voices on gangs are those who have lived that reality. We hope this report spurs further research, education and advocacy.

Although members of law enforcement do not serve as treatment providers for any other illness, they have become “road runners,” responding to mental health emergencies and traveling long distances to shuttle people with mental illness from one facility to another. This report is the first-ever national survey of sheriffs’ offices and police departments on these issues, and it provides a unique glimpse into the burdens they must shoulder as well as the fiscal and societal implications of the current situation. The survey responses represent 355 sheriffs’ offices and police departments in the United States.

Despite the dearth of official data, there is abundant evidence individuals with mental illness make up a disproportionate number of those killed at the very first step of the criminal justice process: while being approached or stopped by a law enforcement officer in the community. This 2015 report surveys the status of law enforcement homicide reporting, examines the demonstrable role of mental illness in the use of deadly force by law enforcement and recommends practical approaches to reducing fatal police shootings and the many social costs associated with them.