The Past, Present, and Future of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office The DA’s office has been home to bribery, corruption, and more since it was formed 170 years ago. What could a progressive prosecutor do to change that? Lexis-Olivier Ray, Lex Roman
California Needs A Community-Based Response To People In Crisis, Not Law Enforcement Governor Newsom should sign the CRISES Act into law this week and invest in community partners who support people in crisis situations. Asantewaa Boykin
Amber Guyger Should Not Go To Prison The former Dallas police officer should be held accountable for killing Botham Jean, but sending her to prison does not keep us safe. Elisabeth Epps
Meet the Latinx 19-Year-Old Running for Sheriff in a Majority-White Louisiana Parish Jose ‘Lil Joe’ Chapa says one way to make Beauregard Parish ‘great again’ is to stop construction of a new jail and divert resources to services that keep people out of lockup altogether. Aaron Morrison
New Lawsuit Claims a Sacramento Deputy Unlawfully Arrested Activist Who Protested Clearing Of Homeless Encampment Advocates and homeless people are suing Sacramento County over its treatment of homeless—and the city responded by filing a lawsuit against seven men for being a ‘public nuisance.‘ Meg O'Connor
A No-Holds-Barred Assault on Prosecutors Attorney General William Barr pushed back against reforms by progressive prosecutors—but perhaps his greatest vitriol was reserved for the Boston DA’s attempt to rein in police. John Pfaff
Oakland Police Have Been Systematically Underreporting Use Of Force A new internal audit shows that officers disproportionately strike, tussle with, and draw guns on Black people but then fail to disclose the incidents in their reports. Darwin BondGraham
When Cops Lie, Should Prosecutors Rely Upon Their Testimony At Trial? In California, Texas and Florida, advocates sent letters to district attorneys, demanding that they refuse to work with officers with histories of misconduct. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Media Frame: A ‘War on Cops’ Narrative Without Evidence ABC News claims anti-police violence is on the rise but offers no data. Adam H. Johnson
Media Frame: Time to Ban Ride-Along Police TV Reality shows like ‘The First 48,’ ‘Live PD,’ and ‘Cops’ are interfering in legal cases, exploiting people of color, and threatening lives. Adam H. Johnson
Fremont Police Said a Man Wielded a Deadly Weapon When They Shot Him. But Records Reveal He Waved a Tent Pole. The police union’s newly elected vice president led the investigation into the shooting that cleared Officer William Gourley of any wrongdoing. Darwin BondGraham
It’s Time to Make Chicago Police Pay For Their Misdeeds—Out Of Their Own Budget Chicago hands out millions in settlements and legal fees for police misconduct. Its newly inaugurated mayor should take a dollar from the department’s budget for every dollar the city spends settling with its victims. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Johns Hopkins University’s Private Police Force Would Bring More Cops To An Overpoliced Baltimore A former Baltimore officer says the Hopkins plan should be viewed skeptically because campus police have a history of deadly force and its officials come from troubled Baltimore Police units. Larry Smith
Chicago Cop’s Sentence For Killing A Black Teenager Is ‘Exceptionally Short’ Jason Van Dyke’s sentence for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald is approximately half the average sentence for a person convicted of second-degree murder in Cook County, Illinois. Rob Arthur
‘I Feel The Oxygen Going Out Of My Mouth’ In October 2018, Marshall Miles was taken into custody by Sacramento County sheriff‘s deputies outside a convenience store. About 14 hours later, he was dead. Aaron Morrison
Black Lives Matter DC’s Battle to End Stop-and-Frisk In The Nation’s Capital Advocates say the city has dragged its feet on legislation meant to ensure transparency on the police practice, and that data released so far—from 2010 to 2016, nearly 82 percent of stops involved Black people—signals that it’s time to end stop-and-frisk entirely. Ella Fassler
North Carolina Sheriff Criticized For Unleashing K-9 Dogs On Black People Faces Re-Election Advocates say that Sheriff Donnie Harrison is unfit for a fifth term because of such abusive practices as well as his office's cooperation with ICE. George Joseph
NYPD Unit That Monitored Proud Boys Event Has Troubled History The Strategic Response Group was created for counter-terrorism but it's involved in everything from Broken Windows policing to suppressing protest. Ashoka Jegroo
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Won’t Seek A Third Term. These Movements Are A Big Reason. Protesters blasting everything from punitive prosecutors to police brutality should be remembered for their role in upsetting the Windy City's political status quo. Kelly Hayes
Notoriously Brutal, Racist Plainclothes Policing Makes A Return In Baltimore After the Gun Trace Task Force scandal rocked the police department, plainclothes policing was spurned. But a recently resigned commissioner championed plainclothes units, a decision the department seems to be sticking with. Larry Smith
Defund The Baltimore Police A former Baltimore cop questions how a department with a nearly half-billion-dollar budget that is riven by rampant corruption and brutality, bloated overtime spending, and unaccounted for patrol officers can continue to justify its existence Larry Smith
Against Innocence In the wake of Nia Wilson’s murder, it’s critical that calls for justice in response to anti-Black violence are not contingent upon appeals to white-approved notions of innocence and respectability. Zoé Samudzi
Former Baltimore Police Officer Criticizes The Department’s Gang Database A onetime gang liaison for the Baltimore Police Department writes that its database is racist and error-ridden. Larry Smith
A Black Man Called The Cops Nazis–And Was Charged With A Hate Crime A Pennsylvania hate crime statute is being used by law enforcement to punish angry arrestees. Joshua Vaughn
Data Shows Police Brutality in America is Getting Worse — 2018 Could Be the Most Deadly in Years Shaun King
Chicago Activists Organize Against Massive Police Training Academy to Be Built As Schools Close Prince Shakur
Activists Fight Back After NYPD Turns Prosecutor To Avoid Civil Suits Max Rivlin-Nadler, Ashoka Jegroo
Injustice Roundup: My Weekly Roundup of Stories on Abusive Police Officers, Prison Guards, and Prosecutors Shaun King
Introducing Injustice Roundup: My Weekly Roundup of Stories on Abusive Police Officers, Prison Guards, and Prosecutors Shaun King
The arrest and charging of Karla Frye marks a pivotal moment for protest in St. Louis County Her case says a lot about prosecutorial discretion. Carimah Townes
Like during the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful NFL protesters have exposed the mean-spirited bigotry of America Shaun King
Allegations of police corruption in Chicago present a big opportunity for Kim Foxx Who is she accountable to? Carimah Townes
