Resources

Researchers for Fair Policing is an intergenerational team of researchers from Make the Road New York & the Public Science Project. These videos are a collection of stories of young people’s experiences with the police and school safety officers. There have been over 1 million young people stopped over the past few years, each of these experiences is unique. As you listen to the stories, consider how the NYPD’s long history of aggressive, zero-tolerance policing policies are impacting young people and what should be done about it.

An interactive graphic of data on the many costs of broken windows policing.

If we want a just and humane world, we must create one in which apparatuses of oppression are no longer considered reasonable. This week on For The Wild, we are joined by Mariame Kaba for an expansive conversation on Transformative Justice, community accountability, criminalization of survivors, and freedom on the horizon. Mariame addresses punishment as an issue of directionality while reminding us why it is vital to have the prison abolition movement in conversation with the movement for climate and environmental justice. When we engage with these issues and shape our actions out of a commitment to removing violence at its core, we are working to transform our world beyond recognition into something teeming with possibility, beauty, and life.

This report provides a brief overview of what Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is and what assumptions drive CVE programs. Given the illusive nature of CVE (and the ways that practitioners intentionally distance themselves from critiques of CVE), it also describes local CVE programs currently underway in Illinois and identifies the key players advancing this anti-terrorism project. Because CVE programs often are rebranded under different names and funding sources, this report also details ways to identify CVE. Lastly, this report shares the experiences of community partners across the country to illustrate the nature and impact of CVE, and how people have been exposing and resisting CVE.

This zine is a primer on what Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs are, what they look like, their dangers, and how to combat them in your community.

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.

This blueprint, developed by TJC’s attorneys and criminal justice policy experts, outlines concrete steps to address the country’s mass incarceration crisis and provides actionable solutions to creating a fairer and more equitable justice system.

A collection of written and audio resources around various topics related to policing, prisons, and criminal justice reform and abolition. Author’s note: In general, I’ve tried to list shorter pieces, articles, and listening/viewing material. Though the sources are organized thematically, there is no issue in the carceral state that doesn’t intersect with another; therefore, most of the categories are necessarily false divides used for purposes of organization. In places where I’ve listed books, I include a link to the book or to an interview with the author.