More Black Representation on Police Forces Will Not Solve Police Violence In the wake of more horrific police killings, it’s important to remember that Black cops cannot fix America’s fundamentally broken and racist policing system. Mustafa Ali-Smith
How a Troubled Police Department Is Shaping Buffalo’s Mayoral Race Citing years of police brutality and racial disparities in arrests, activists are pushing candidates to embrace reforms ahead of next week’s Democratic primaries. Raina Lipsitz
How These Cities Are Breaking Up the Work of Police Departments As the country reassesses its relationship with law enforcement, Ithaca, New York; Berkeley and Oakland, California; and Austin, Texas, are defunding, replacing, or reducing the scope of their police departments. Eoin Higgins
The Greatest Threat To Defunding The Police? State Pre-emption. A little-known legal tool allows states to override progressive policies in cities. John Pfaff
‘Let Me See That Waistband’ A veteran D.C. police officer says the Metropolitan Police Department’s Gun Recovery Unit deploys illegitimate tactics in a war on guns that have fostered an adversarial relationship between the department and the communities they are supposed to serve. Brandon Soderberg
Activists Who Helped Elect Birmingham Mayor Balk at Police Expansion Plans Mayor Randall Woodfin is increasing police funding and ignoring calls for non-law enforcement public safety alternatives. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New Videos Show Massachusetts Cops Brutalizing George Floyd Protesters Over two nights last year, police in Boston and Worcester used excessive force—including pushing and tackling—while arbitrarily arresting protesters without apparent cause. Eoin Higgins
Republican Lawmakers Are Using the Capitol Riot to Fuel Anti-BLM Backlash Some lawmakers are citing the violence in Washington as a reason to pass laws that criminalize protesting, but far-right extremists aren’t the target. Meg O'Connor
They Took Umbrellas to a Black Lives Matter Protest. The D.A. Hit Them with Gang Charges Police and prosecutors routinely treat white domestic terrorists with kid gloves, but use the full force of the law against protesters calling for an end to police violence against Black people. Meg O'Connor
Boston Mayor Vetoes Restrictions on Police Force Against Protesters Despite Controversial Body Camera Video ‘It’s an insult to the activism and organizing that defined 2020, and falls far short of the transformational leadership that Boston deserves,’ one City Council member said. Eoin Higgins
Bodycam Video Shows ‘Mob Mentality’ Of Boston Police Who Responded To George Floyd Protests, Lawyer Says Hours of video given exclusively to The Appeal show police officers bragging about attacking protesters and multiple instances of excessive force and the liberal use of pepper spray. Eoin Higgins
Philadelphia Teacher Faces 65 Years In Prison After Another Person Torched A Police Car During A Protest U.S Attorney William McSwain denies he’s targeted the social justice leader, but experts say prosecutors’ use of the man’s clothing and social media to argue that he should be detained pretrial is unusual. Rachel M. Cohen
Why Los Angeles Activists Don’t Want Their Mayor In Biden’s Cabinet Eric Garcetti, who may be considered for a position in the administration, is out of touch with the city’s working class and poor people, activists say. And they fear he’ll bring that sensibility to national politics. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
The Limitations of Police ‘No Chase’ Policies Two moped riders were left dead or injured after recent police pursuits in Washington, D.C., and Providence, Rhode Island. Ella Fassler
Some Texas Elections Suggest Voters Aren’t Afraid of Defunding Police None of the Austin City Council members who voted to cut police funding lost their elections, but a police union vice president who fearmongered about the defund movement did. Meg O'Connor
Chicago’s Mayor Turns City’s Infrastructure Into Weapons Against Protesters When election and racial justice protests rocked the city, Lori Lightfoot used raised bridges and shutdown public transportation as crowd control measures, which harmed the city’s workers. Maya Dukmasova
No, Defund The Police And Medicare For All Didn’t Lead To Democratic Losses In The House Party leaders have blamed progressive left policies for disappointing electoral results. A close examination of winners and losers suggests otherwise. Aidan Smith
Law Enforcement Reformers Sweep Major Races In Los Angeles County Candidates promising to remake Southern California’s legal system, won major races for DA, county supervisor, and City Council, among others while overcoming significant spending by pro-law enforcement groups. Jerry Iannelli
For a Glimpse of the Racial Justice Protests’ Staying Power, Look To Detroit Under the banner of Detroit Will Breathe, the city’s Black Lives Matter activists have formed a cohesive and lasting local political force. Chris Gelardi
NYPD Unit At Center Of Protest Policing Has Dozens Of Officers With Long Misconduct Histories Civil liberties experts say the Strategic Response Group’s recent crackdown on ICE protests is the most brutal suppression of protests in decades—and many of its officers are the subject of significant misconduct allegations, including a supervisor with 32 complaints. Ali Winston
The Minneapolis City Council’s Attempt To Defund the Police Was Thwarted By An Unelected Charter Commission Contrary to reports, most City Council members—who ran and won by pledging to advance racial equity—tried to do the right thing, but were stalled by a charter commission that overstepped its authority. Scott Shaffer
Florida’s Most Powerful Pro-Police Lobbying Group Is An Anti-Reform Force The Florida Sheriffs Association gains a third of its multimillion-dollar budget by selling big-ticket items like trucks and mobile command centers to local sheriff’s departments and other government agencies. Jerry Iannelli
Portland Civil Rights Activists Want A Mayor Who Can Stand Up To Police Mayor Ted Wheeler’s popularity has declined after a summer of protests against police violence in the Oregon city. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Feuding With Donald Trump Is Not Police Reform Mayors of liberal cities love to criticize the president’s incendiary law-and-order rhetoric, but do precious little to check police violence and bloated budgets in their own backyards. Jay Willis
How Protests Over Police Violence Are Changing A City Where Officers Kill With Near-Impunity As protests against racism and police violence were sweeping the country, a Vallejo, California detective shot and killed Sean Monterrosa. His death has galvanized a community. John Glidden
Prosecutors Are Using Gang Laws To Criminalize Protest Prosecutors in states ranging from New York to Utah are using decades-old gang laws to target participants in the largest uprising against police brutality in U.S. history. Ali Winston
Support The NBA Strike, Boycott The Police Athletes should demand more than prosecutions of police officers who kill Black people. The criminal legal system is a guilty system responsible for our oppression. It cannot also be the guardian of our liberation. Here are three racial justice demands that athletes can support right now. Derecka Purnell
NYPD Expands Use Of Controversial Subpoenas To Criminal Cases Administrative subpoenas—which do not require a judge’s approval—are typically used for the department’s internal investigations, but The Appeal has learned that they are being used in criminal cases. Ali Winston
Seattle Mayor Known As ‘Tear Gas Jenny’ For Police Treatment Of Protesters Has Troubled History As A Federal Prosecutor As U.S. attorney in Seattle, Durkan prosecuted a severely mentally ill man in a terrorism case using an informant convicted of child sex abuse—and claimed to have reformed the same Seattle Police Department that has tear-gassed peaceful protesters for weeks. Jerry Iannelli
Starve The Mass Incarceration Beast By Shutting The Front Door To decarcerate New Orleans, we must defund the police department. Sade Dumas, David Brazil
LAPD Officer Who Killed Man in Mental Health Crisis Is a Gun-Toting Social Media Star In late April, officer Toni McBride shot Daniel Hernandez to death after a suicide call. His attorney and grieving family say videos posted on social media of McBride gleefully firing high-powered weapons show that she’s a trigger-happy officer. Jerry Iannelli
Budget Cuts May Keep Rikers Open Past 2027 Deadline Reductions in budgets related to the novel coronavirus have slowed New York City’s plan to close Rikers by building new jails, and it’s becoming increasingly possible that the city will not meet its January 2027 deadline. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
‘No Cop Money’ Pledge Should Extend To Consultants And Law Enforcement Super PACs Law enforcement super PACs are spending big money on district attorney races and local elections from California to New York—and respected Democratic consulting firms are helping them. Adam Eichen, Andrew Perez
Defund The Police. Our Lives Depend On It. Safe and healthy communities start with less police and more investment in community services that work. A’Brianna Morgan
Law Schools’ Complicity On Racism Must Be Challenged This historical moment is crying out for a re-examination of our institutions, and law schools are no exception. Tyler Ambrose, Zarinah Mustafa, Sherin Nassar
Legal Experts Question Use Of Federal Law To Prosecute Torching Of Empty NYPD Patrol Car During Protests Federal prosecutors argue that damaging a police vehicle is a violation of federal statutes in part because the police department receives federal funding. Former prosecutors and law professors say it’s an absurd rationale driven by politics of the Justice Department. Jerry Iannelli
Protesters Say Hamilton County Sheriff Held Them Overnight Without Food, Water, Bathrooms Two people, arrested and detained in Cincinnati after protesting the police killing of George Floyd, recall being held at the jail, outside, for hours. Caleb Brennan
Family of Man Who Died at California Jail After Shouting ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Demands Answers From Sheriff In October 2018, Marshall Miles died at the Sacramento County jail after struggling with deputies. His lawyers say a deposition scheduled for next month will force the sheriff to answer for the in-custody death. Jerry Iannelli
U.N. to Hold Debate On U.S. Police Violence After families of people killed by police asked the organization to investigate racist American policing, 54 African nations called for a debate on the treatment of Black Americans. The debate will happen today. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Police Killings Bring Out Tensions Within The Labor Movement Some unions and labor activists are calling for the AFL-CIO to expel police unions. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Police Departments Have Failed Black And Latinx Communities. It Will Take Deliberate Work To Earn Back Their Trust. The use of excessive force against nonwhite communities and people protesting police brutality is further eroding public confidence in policing. Ellison Berryhill
Don’t Let Cops Join Our Protests Cops who turn marches against police violence into parades don’t actually want substantial changes to policing. Derecka Purnell
Freddie Gray, Five Years Later On the anniversary of the Baltimore Uprising protests, new evidence in Gray’s death uncovers suppressed witness accounts of police brutality. Justine Barron
Drive-By Protesters Demand Release Of All Prisoners In D.C. Amid Coronavirus ‘It seems like Black people are still being criminalized and are not free,’ one organizer said. Lauren Gill
Justice in America Episode 21: Police Accountability Josie Duffy and co-host Darnell Moore discuss police accountability and explain why it’s so hard for the criminal justice system to hold police accountable.
How District Attorney Jackie Lacey Failed Los Angeles On a host of issues—including police shootings, bail reform, marijuana legalization, and the death penalty—critics say Lacey, once seen as a reformer, has sought to preserve the status quo. Jessica Pishko
New York City Voters May Expand Power of Civilian Review Board, Allowing It to Investigate Police Who Lie If passed, Question 2 would also allow the board to force police commissioners to provide more insight into disciplinary decisions. Aaron Morrison
‘A Green Light For Abuse’: Despite Reforms, California Counties Still Conceal Records On Police Use Of Force A lawsuit in Los Angeles and a motion in Orange County highlight battles to get key information. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
LA County Supervisors to Vote on Canceling Jail Contract Black Lives Matter and other advocates have pushed county officials to abandon the $2.2 billion project with McCarthy Builders. Lauren Gill
Media Frame: Stop Quoting Bill Bratton For far too long, the press has leaned on wrong-headed tough-on-crime officials like the former NYPD commissioner when reporting on the criminal legal system. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Body Cameras And Tasers Rake In Billions For Axon, But They’re No Panacea For Police Violence The popularity of Axon’s tech soared after the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014, but it may be doing more harm than good in protecting people from excessive force. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
L.A. Prosecutor Touts Her Mental Health Reforms, But Critics Say She’s Making The Crisis Worse Advocates and attorneys say Jackie Lacey’s rhetoric doesn’t match her actions. Raven Rakia
The Appeal Podcast: Pushing For Police Accountability in Sacramento With Appeal senior staff reporter Aaron Morrison Adam H. Johnson
Expansion Of Largest Jail System In The United States Must End Los Angeles County’s jail system incarcerates tens of thousands of people at a multi-billion dollar cost. The communities most impacted by mass incarceration have had enough. Patrisse Cullors, Lex Steppling
Years After Protests, NYPD Retains Photos of Black Lives Matter Activists The records raise questions about the department’s compliance with its protest monitoring rules. George Joseph
For The First Time, A Chicago Judge Could Lose His Seat For Being Too ‘Tough on Crime’ No Cook County judge has lost a retention election in 28 years. Bryce Covert
An Inside Look At An Ohio Police Force’s Race Problem A white cop joked about bringing explosives to a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus with no consequences. A black cop joked about ‘black on black’ crime and may be fired. George Joseph
St. Louis County Could Oust The Prosecutor Who Helped Ignite Ferguson Protests His opponent in Tuesday’s primary helped establish new police accountability and court reforms in Ferguson after the police shooting of Michael Brown. Amanda Sakuma
Meet ‘Bob Smith,’ The Fake Facebook Profile Memphis Police Allegedly Used To Spy On Black Activists New records obtained by the Appeal show the account seems to have been monitoring Black Lives Matter activists for years. George Joseph
Memphis Police Collected Black Lives Matter Activists’ Private Facebook Posts Police appear to have used a fake Facebook account to 'friend' activists and archive who 'liked' their posts. George Joseph
The Trials of Keith Davis, Jr: How Baltimore Prosecutors Pursued a Police Shooting Victim Brandon Soderberg
