The organizing principle of police reform is the idea that the institution of police is perfectible. This notion of perfectibility depicts police, whether good or bad today, as absolutely essential and always on a path of improvement tomorrow. Perfectibility includes concepts such as accountability, police oversight, and professionalization.
Chokehold: Policing Black Men - Paul Butler
Chokehold powerfully demonstrates why current efforts to reform law enforcement will not create lasting change. Butler’s controversial recommendations about how to crash the system, and when it’s better for a black man to plead guilty—even if he’s innocent—are sure to be game-changers in the national debate about policing, criminal justice, and race relations.
The End of Policing - Alex Vitale
This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice— even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.
Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter edited by Jordan T. Camp and Christina Heatherton
Combining firsthand accounts from activists with the research of scholars and reflections from artists, Policing the Planettraces the global spread of the broken-windows policing strategy. It’s a doctrine that has vastly broadened police power the world over—to deadly effect.
A conversation with Professors Jeffrey Fagan and Olatunde Johnson will explore the possibilities and future of police reform in America. This discussion took place on Wednesday, September 14, 2017.
As activists and lawmakers push for major police reform, one New Jersey city offers an example of what meaningful change can actually look like. Less than a decade ago, Camden was one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., but crime has dropped since it disbanded and rebuilt its police force. Rep. Donald Norcross, who represents New Jersey's first district, including the city of Camden, joined CBSN to discuss what those changes entailed.