What the Federal Government Can Do to Help Fix Policing in America

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2019, nearly 1,100 Americans were killed by police. Black people represented 24 percent of those killed, despite making up only 13 percent of the population. The recent murders of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, because they were caught on video, translated these statistics into an undeniable reality. It is time to end the violence and fear that Black people and communities of color endure from our nation's law enforcement officers.

Protests in hundreds of cities across the country illustrate the growing desire of Americans to see real change. As we see how police are armed with military equipment more suited to a war zone than our neighborhoods, there have been heightened calls to redirect the significant funding streams that have allowed our police forces to grow so large in the first place. There are conversations underway about "defunding the police" and what that entails. Many see this as a reallocation of resources, while others say that they want to actually abolish the ...

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has shirked its duty to play an important role in investigating and working with police departments to examine and reform their practices.

In the wake of the uprising following the 1992 acquittal of the white Los Angeles police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This law authorizes the Justice Department to step in when police engage in "a pattern or practice of conduct" that deprives people of their constitutional rights. These cases allow the Justice Department to enforce rights defined and protected by the Constitution in addition to other federal laws. Since 1994, DOJ has launched 70 ...

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