Instead of state and local police departments, a national police force may soon be the new reality of law enforcement in America. Sure, the idea may have seemed far-fetched this time last year. But now, discussions of abolishing or defunding law enforcement agencies are becoming increasingly mainstr
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President Joe Biden was swept into office amid arguably the largest protest movement in U.S. history, so it’s worth taking a closer look at his chief public safety funding proposal, one that is central to his own legacy on police reform. Biden has promised to “reinvigorate” funding for the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, office with a $300 million investment in putting new “community policing” officers on the street. But funneling Department of Justice dollars toward community policing initiatives and the COPS office is the wrong approach if the federal government truly wants to improve public safety and health for communities in this moment. It will neither drive structural changes to American policing nor tackle the root causes of gun violence in cities that have seen a sharp uptick in shootings since the pandemic’s inception.
Beyond Policing: Creating Safe and Just Communities, with Art Acevedo, Roy L. Austin, and Karol Mason in conversation with Bill Whitaker
As the nation witnesses increasing public support for a reimagining and transformation of the criminal justice system, calls for defunding the police and reinvestment of those funds have dominated recent discourse. This moment also presents an opportunity to simultaneously achieve safety and justice through a more community-driven approach. How do we and our leaders make change happen in a way that takes into consideration historic injustices, as well as the underlying social, economic, education and health disparities in the United States?