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Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 12:00-3:00pm (CST) | 1:00-4:00pm (EST)
Zoom link:
Recent protests across our nation and around the globe, in response to the murder of George Floyd and many other people of color, have resulted in long overdue debates and policy proposals concerning the failure of our current system of militarized policing, the problem of police brutality and racialized violence, and the need for creating alternative community-based systems of public safety and crime prevention. This workshop will explore the historical roots of our contemporary model of policing, racist policing practices and cultures, and various public policy proposals for transforming policing and ensuring racial justice. Using a racial lens and an historical and comparative perspective, we seek to better understand how racism, xenophobia, class inequality, and gender oppression have shaped policing and led to the criminalization of Blackness and of immigrants, indigenous communities, refugee populations, LGBTQ people, homeless people, and poor white workers. We will explore a wide range of policy proposals being put forth to guarantee public safety while ensuring racial justice, from reforming to defunding to abolishing the police.
Questions and Issues to Address in the Workshop
Questions and Issues to Address in the Workshop
What are the prevalent and persistent myths regarding crime, policing, and punishment and how can we effectively combat them?
How can we ensure police accountability and transparency?
Why have previous attempts to hold police accountable, via body cameras, civilian review boards, implicit bias training, etc., failed to prevent police brutality?
What skills do those charged with ensuring public safety need and how should they be properly trained?
Should public safety officers be required to live in the communities in which they work? Why are some activists and policymakers calling for the abolition rather than reform of policing?
What would a new system of public safety look like if the police are defunded and/or abolished?
How would such a system deal with the issue of violent crime?
What functions currently carried out by police could be better provided by other social service professionals, including social workers, mental health workers, victim/survivor advocates, community leaders etc. Would shifting funds away from police and toward community-based agencies, including schools, community centers, mental health professionals, domestic violence organizations, arts and youth programs, etc. reduce crime?
Is there any role for police unions and, if so, what should it be?
What are the central obstacles to transforming existing policing practices and institutions?
Do changes in policing need to be accompanied by transformations in other criminal justice institutions, including courts and prisons, in order to achieve racial justice?
Will reducing crime and ensuring public safety in our communities require much more than just changes to policing, including programs to better fund public schools and libraries, provide living wage jobs, create affordable housing, and guarantee health care for all?
Do we need a context-dependent approach to public policy that takes into account distinctive local or regional histories and cultures of policing and race relations rather than a one-size-fits-all approach? For example, might abolition be appropriate in some place, like Minneapolis, and reform in others, like Saint Paul?
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