Resources

A resource that defines and explains certain surveillance mechanisms and tools used by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The movement to redirect police funding towards social services and community care has ignited calls to re-examine police presence in schools. In the last month alone, several school districts have decided to disband school-based officers while urging their communities to shift funding towards other necessary services. Instead of relying on police to fulfill core educational functions, now is the time for schools to fund mental health professionals, academic support, and other evidence-based programs. Particularly in light of the twin pandemics of coronavirus and engrained structural racism, the scarce funding available should focus on what works best for students.

Many of the worst features of mass incarceration — such as racial disparities in prisons — can be traced back to policing. Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) research on the policies that impact justice-involved and incarcerated people therefore often intersects with policing issues. Now, at a time when police practices, budgets, and roles in society are at the center of the national conversation about criminal justice, PPI has compiled key work related to policing (and discussions of other researchers’ work) in one briefing.

A research report that examines 911 call data, civilian race, and officer use of force. Researchers found that white officers increase use of force as they are dispatched to more minority neighborhoods, compared to minority officers. Researchers also found that while white and Black officers use gun force at similar rates in white and racially mixed neighborhoods, white officers are five times as likely to use gun force in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Similarly, white officers increase use of any force much more than minority officers when dispatched to more minority neighborhoods.

A 2018 report that details the current state of school-policing for Black and Latino students and advocates for the removal of school police.

This report illustrates specific steps the New York City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio must make to cut at least $1 billion from NYPD’s FY21 expense budget to ensure that monies can be redirected to protect and strengthen essential services, programs and infrastructure that address key needs of Black, Latinx and other NYC communities of color for an equitable transition in the COVID-19 period.

As more and more school districts around the country are joining the movement to end the school-to-prison pipeline and remove police from inside of schools, we want to share more information about the realities of school-based policing in Chicago. This report examines the disparities in who is impacted by school-based policing, the misconduct records of the CPD officers assigned to CPS, and the ways funds currently allocated towards policing could be re-invested.

This report, based on an analysis of data collected by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), found that Black people (46.5% of the D.C. population) composed 72% of the people stopped by police. Researchers also found that 88.6% of the youth under 18 who were stopped were Black. The data reveal concerning trends suggesting that these disparities may arise from racial bias.

Created by Beth Richie, Dylan Rodríguez, Mariame Kaba, Melissa Burch, Rachel Herzing, and Shana Agid. This resource explains community control of the police and community review boards, going over some criticisms/shortfalls and then offering potential solutions and alternatives.