Policing

28 Years, 160 Arrests: What One Man’s Record Reveals About San Diego’s Broken Justice System

What do you do with people who are repeatedly failed by social services and the legal system?

Kelly Davis

Why the U.S. Marshals Spend Millions on Sex-Offense Registrant Sweeps

The real aim of these operations might be to boost support for cops.

Steven Yoder

Justice Department Launches Investigation Into NYPD’s Troubled Special Victims Division

The probe will assess whether the SVD engages in a “pattern or practice of gender-biased policing," according to the DOJ.

Man Left Paralyzed After Hospital Denies Care And Calls Police: Lawsuit

Accused of faking his symptoms, Joshua Lee Smith was dragged from his hospital bed, called a “junkie,” and thrown in jail, his lawsuit says. Then, he woke up paralyzed.

Can Residents Trust Durham’s Police Chief After She Cooperated With ICE?

Patrice Andrews once promised she’d never work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But in 2018, she directly ordered the arrest of immigration activists during an ICE deportation.

Tina Vasquez

Don’t Let Cops Co-Opt Denim Day

The Truth About Marijuana and the Criminal Legal System

Katie Jane Fernelius

Florida Cops Nearly Sent a Five-Year-Old to Jail

Nneka Ewulonu

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 Could Police Shootings Keep Happening After We Did Nothing To Stop Them?

How the NYPD’s Troubled Sex Crimes Unit Is Set Up To Fail Victims

Former top cops say a culture of neglect at the NYPD has left inexperienced and poorly trained officers in charge of some of the department’s most sensitive cases.

Why Atlantans Are Pushing to Stop ‘Cop City’

After the city council passed the ground lease for massive police facility known as “Cop City,” local opposition hasn’t ceased; it’s evolved.

Aja Arnold

‘Rage Induced Policing’: Hacked Documents Reveal D.C. Police’s Aggressive Robbery Crackdowns

Internal emails and their attachments show that a roving Metropolitan Police Department unit attempted to suppress robberies in 2012 and 2013 by stopping and frisking and surveilling residents of Black neighborhoods.

Meet the California PR Firm Helping Cops Fight Off Bad Press

There’s a growing business crafting law enforcement narratives about police shootings and officer misconduct.

Scott Morris

Police Disinformation Is Still Disinformation

Lots to be thankful for. Plus a reality check.

Nick Wing

One Rochester Cop’s Abuses Reveal A Culture of Police Impunity

If Officer Matthew Drake had faced serious discipline for his misconduct, he might not have been on duty the night of Tyshon Jones’s death.

Police Threats Over Vaccine Mandates Are Proving Empty

Nick Wing

Big Retail Chains Are Manufacturing a Shoplifting ‘Crisis’

America’s Largest Police Department Is Neglecting Rape Cases

Los Angeles County Homeless Residents Say Sheriff’s Department Is Targeting Them

The ACLU of Southern California is suing the city of Lancaster and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for excessively citing people living at desert homeless encampments in the Antelope Valley.

Francisco Aviles Pino

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.

The California Attorney General is Investigating Sean Monterrosa’s Killing. His Sisters Are Also Fighting For Systemic Change

Monterrosa, 22, was killed by a police officer who had a history of shooting at civilians. His sisters are pushing for a law they believe could have saved him.

Piper French

Brooklyn Center Mayor Unveils Plan To Decrease Police Traffic Enforcement Powers

The proposal by Mike Elliott, if passed by City Council, would also create a department of unarmed professionals trained to respond to mental health needs.

Darwin BondGraham, Ali Winston

Failure To Disclose

Despite a 2019 California law mandating the release of certain records related to police misconduct, law enforcement agencies in the state are still fighting records requests.

San Antonio Activists ‘Cannot in Good Faith’ Support This Year’s Mayoral Candidates

Local activists have soured on incumbent Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and no other candidate offers a compelling alternative.

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

Cincinnati’s Upcoming Mayoral Race is ‘Make or Break’ for Policing and Housing

True public safety, advocates say, is one of the most urgent issues facing Cincinnati voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.

Lori Lightfoot’s Record Shows the Limits of ‘Police Reform’

In various offices across two decades, Mayor Lightfoot has failed to bring change to the Chicago Police Department.

How Policing Is Shaping the Pittsburgh Mayoral Race

Incumbent Bill Peduto’s policing record is under scrutiny after protests last summer. He is facing what may be his most competitive race yet.

Report Sheds Light On The Pattern Of Over-Policing That Led Cops To Pull Over Daunte Wright

The criminal legal system “relies heavily on collecting money from the very people targeted by the system,” in the process incentivizing police to punish as many people as possible, the authors of the ACLU report write.

Samantha Schuyler

Oakland Takes First Steps Toward Directing Some 911 Calls To Community Responders

It will be months before the pilot program is implemented in part of East Oakland, but activists say it’s a move in the right direction.

Eliyahu Kamisher

Philadelphia Police Aren’t Solving Crimes. It’s Time to Divert Their Funding

This budget season, Philadelphia must hold our law enforcement accountable for their failures by redirecting resources to strategies that can help us.

Kendra Brooks

‘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.

After Daunte Wright’s Death, Advocates Press Leaders to Get Police Out of Traffic Enforcement

Cities across the country must rethink the role of law enforcement, as police continue to brutalize and kill Black men and women during traffic stops, advocates say.

Five Times Miami’s New Police Chief Got It Wrong on Public Safety

Art Acevedo’s recent comments reveal an official who, despite his “good cop” veneer, has played fast and loose with the facts when it comes to addressing public safety.

Austin Uses Money From Police Budget to Fund Substance Use Care

The city will use $1 million in funds diverted from its police budget to expand substance use treatments and harm reduction services for low-income people in Austin and Travis County.

Minneapolis Activists Could Put Police Reform Directly on the Ballot

Yes 4 Minneapolis, a coalition of advocacy organizations, is on track to place a proposed charter amendment on November’s ballot that would fundamentally change policing and public safety in the city.

Children Can Be On Their Own When Grilled By Police. The Push for Protection is Growing

Several states, including Maryland, are considering bills to protect minors from abusive police interrogations.

A California City Is Experiencing An Epidemic of Police Shootings—And Many Of The Victims May Have Been Unarmed

The Appeal examined 17 fatal shootings by the Vallejo police over the last decade and found at least six cases where the person shot may have been unarmed.

Brian Krans

Phoenix Wants To Shift Crisis Response Away From Police—While Also Increasing The Police Budget

The trial budget includes a proposal to expand a crisis response program under the fire department, but also includes a $3.7 million increase to the Phoenix Police Department’s $745 million budget.

The Medical Examiner Said He Died of ‘Excited Delirium.’ Medical Experts Say Police Strangled Him to Death.

Sterling Higgins died in a Tennessee jail in 2019 after officers pinned him to the floor. Two new medical experts’ reports describe the incident as homicide.

Tana Ganeva

During the Pandemic, Houston Cops Went Undercover and Arrested a Homeless Man Over 0.6 Grams of Meth

As Texas lifts its COVID-19 restrictions, the city’s jail remains overcrowded and its police and prosecutors continue to operate as normal.

A Florida Lawmaker Introduced Legislation to Remove Traffic Enforcement From Police

Cities across the country have begun exploring traffic enforcement without police. This bill proposes doing so statewide.

Rochester Police Tackle and Pepper-Spray Woman With 3-Year-Old Child

It is the latest incident of violence from a police department already under fire for pepper-spraying a 9-year-old girl and fatally injuring Daniel Prude.

Philly Cops Are Solving Fewer Homicides. The City Keeps Paying Them Millions

Community members and advocates question why Mayor Jim Kenney and the City Council continue to fund the police department at record levels, despite the department’s low murder solve rate.

Berkeley City Council Passes Sweeping Reforms to Limit Police Traffic Stops

In an effort to end systemic racism, the California city will aim to reduce the number of police-involved traffic stops for expired registrations and other small violations.

No Criminal Charges for Cops Involved in Daniel Prude’s Death

New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced today that a grand jury voted not to indict any police officers on charges related to the death of Daniel Prude.

How George Floyd’s Death Is Pushing Minneapolis to Rethink Public Safety

The police killing has accelerated a years-long effort by advocates and lawmakers to shift resources and money away from law enforcement.

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.

New York Moves A Step Closer To Decriminalizing Sex Work

After organizing to repeal the “walking while trans” ban, advocates in the state—and around the country—are looking ahead to the next fight.

Bryce Covert

How the Killing of Breonna Taylor Is Reshaping Louisville Politics

The political paradigm emerging in Louisville is being formed by newcomers to local politics.

Austin To Buy Second Hotel That Will Become Permanent Supportive Housing

The city will use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the people who will live at the hotel.

At Least 5 Capitol Rally Participants Were In A Violent ‘Patriot March’ In San Diego

Right-wingers and ultranationalists convened in the city days after the Washington insurrection, but the police crackdown that day fell on counterprotesters.

James Stout

Austin Will Use Money Cut From Police Budget To Establish Supportive Housing

The City Council voted to buy one hotel and use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the homeless people who will live there.

Austin May Use Money Cut From Police Budget To Establish Permanent Supportive Housing

The City Council will decide whether to buy two hotels and use funds diverted from its police budget to set up wraparound services for the homeless people who will live there.

‘Captain Taser’

A Vallejo police lieutenant has a long history of excessive force allegations in a department that is under investigation by the California Department of Justice—and he continues to rise in the ranks.

Brian Krans

Years After Freddie Gray’s Death, Baltimore Police Misconduct Persists

A new report de-anonymizes hundreds of officers in the city and shows more than 1,800 cops have had complaints filed about them.

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.

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.

The Cops at the Capitol

Law enforcement officers from around the country attended and supported last week’s rally in support of President Trump that sparked a riot.

What Traffic Enforcement Without Police Could Look Like

Because traffic stops all too often escalate into deadly incidents, calls have grown to disentangle traffic enforcement from police—and a measure to do so has already passed in Berkeley, California.

Jerry Iannelli, Joshua Vaughn

What Public Safety Without Police Looks Like

From San Francisco to Philadelphia, cities across the country are creating fully unarmed response teams to address emergencies that used to call for cops.

Partners in Crime: The Siege on the Capitol, Police, and White Supremacy

The historical connections were on full display during Wednesday’s violence at the Capitol.

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.

‘Basically Cyberbullying’: How Cops Abuse Social Media to Publicly Humiliate

Law enforcement agencies are creating online content, often at the expense of people they have arrested.

Hope Corrigan

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.

These Cops Lied In Court. But Since The D.A. Isn’t Keeping A Brady List, They Could Testify Again

The case illustrates the importance of keeping lists of police officers with histories of misconduct or dishonesty, the defense lawyer in the case says.

Scandal-Plagued Sacramento Lawmaker and Ex-Cop Considers Run for Sheriff

California Assemblymember Jim Cooper may seek to be Sacramento sheriff once more—despite sexual harassment allegations and a long history of outlandish antics.

America Wants Marijuana Reform. Congress Shouldn’t Stand In The Way.

Investing in local communities and rolling back the criminalization of marijuana is exactly what the country needs right now.

Barbara Lee

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.

We Can’t Restore The Soul Of The Nation With Rahm Emanuel In Public Office

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Transportation Secretary or Assistant to the Transportation Secretary, Rahm doesn’t belong in any of D.C.’s halls of power.

Jamaal Bowman

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

Police Funding Is a Pivotal Issue in Two Austin City Council Runoffs

Incumbents Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter have been targeted by conservative challengers because of the council’s votes to cut police funding and repeal a ban on public camping.

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.

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

Police Unions Are Losing The War on Criminal Justice Reform

Law enforcement organizations have long treated mass incarceration as a job creation program. In 2020, the tide began turning against them.

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.

How One Race Could Change Police Accountability in Arizona

Incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel is backed by police unions and has declined to charge officers in high-profile killings. Challenger Julie Gunnigle says she wants to create an independent unit to review police use-of-force cases.

A Trumpist Texas Sheriff is Running for Congress. If He Wins, His Brother Might Take Over the Sheriff’s Office.

Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls wants voters to send him to Congress despite his department’s history of jail deaths and allegations of racial-profiling.

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.

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.

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.

Policing Studies Measure Benefits To Crime Reduction—But Not Social Costs

Research has shown only that police can be sufficient, not that they are necessary.

John Pfaff

Federal Judge Halts Trump’s Law Enforcement Commission

The ruling said the commission wasn’t diverse enough and gave little voice to communities affected by policing.

Joseph Darius Jaafari, Joshua Vaughn

Joe Biden Should Use Federal Dollars to Fund Alternatives to Police

If he becomes president and Democrats win the Senate, Biden should push a federal spending bill that includes money for civilian first-responder programs.

Aaron Stagoff-Belfort

With Little Evidence, Pennsylvania State Police Seized $600,000 From Drivers

An investigation by The Appeal and Spotlight PA found that troopers in three counties have taken big money from drivers, many of whom were never charged.

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.

Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Joe Brann

Communities Need And Deserve A Reset Of Policing And The Justice System. Trump Has Created A Sham Process that Excludes Them.

Under the guise of restoring public confidence in law enforcement, President Trump’s secretive and regressive Commission on Law Enforcement is stacked with old-guard failed tough-on-crime thinking that precipitated the crisis of confidence we now face.

Chicago Lawmakers Push To Build Team Of Emergency Responders Who Aren’t Police

The proposed legislation would expand the city’s public mental healthcare system using funds reallocated from the police budget.

In a Small Illinois City, A Black Man Died After Officers Shoved A Baton In His Mouth. Black Officers Say They’ve Suffered At The Hands Of The Department, Too.

Lawsuits from Joliet Police Department officers are among at least 12 current federal complaints against the agency. The men say their civil rights lawsuits are part of a decades-long history of discrimination.

Lauren Gill, Jerry Iannelli

Florida Governor’s Bid To Felonize Protesting Is An Attack On Democracy, Justice Advocate Says

Legislation proposed this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis also seeks to withhold state funding from counties that move to decrease police budgets.

Her Lawyers Say She Was Coerced To Plead Guilty To A Crime That Never Happened

Accused of shaking a baby to death and facing the death penalty, Amy Wilkerson says she is innocent, but pleaded guilty to spare her life.

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

After Atlanta Teen Is Injured in a Police Encounter, Lawyers Call for Change

The 17-year-old, who his lawyers say was pushed off a fence by a police officer, survived the fall but suffered serious injuries.

Arizona Man Faces 8 Years in Prison For Not Returning Rental Car on Time

Brian Stepter, a 61-year-old with chronic respiratory problems, has struggled with substance use for decades. Police and prosecutors sought the harshest sentence possible after he failed to return the car.

Stacey Walker, Maria Hawilo

The Pervasive Violence of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department

Several recent killings have put the spotlight on the largest sheriff’s department in the U.S., but many of the LASD’s abuses go unseen, advocates say.

Piper French

It’s Time To Form A Community-Led Citizen Review Board For The Cedar Rapids Police

Now is the time to act. If we have learned anything since George Floyd’s death, it is that we cannot keep waiting for change.

Texas Family Wants Justice For Deadly No-Knock Drug Raid

In February 2019, police officers in Killeen shot James Scott Reed in his home. One officer entered a guilty plea to evidence tampering, but Reed’s family is still suing the city and several officers in federal court.

Pennsylvania Inspector General Reviewing State Police Traffic Stop Tactics

The review follows an investigation by The Appeal and Spotlight PA, which found that troopers were using minor traffic stops to illegally detain and search motorists along highways.

Lori Lightfoot’s Actions Don’t Match Her Rhetoric About Police

Like her Democratic mayoral counterparts in Portland, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York, Lightfoot has condemned police violence outside her borders, while using law enforcement to suppress demonstrations in her own city.

His Brother Called For Help After He Was Acting Strangely. Police Knelt On Him Until He Was Brain Dead.

Body camera video shows that Daniel Prude was complying with police when they knelt on his back and pushed his face to the ground for so long that he stopped breathing.

Joseph Darius Jaafari, Joshua Vaughn

Highway Stop-And-Frisk: How Pennsylvania State Troopers Conduct Illegal Traffic Searches

A review of five years of cases that arose from traffic stops in the south-central region of the state shows that police used underhand tactics to justify holding and searching drivers illegally.

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.

Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Buta Biberaj

Want Prosecutorial Reform? Start With Curtailing The Influence Of Police Unions.

Removing police union influence from the prosecutor’s office is a critical first step towards building a system that is safe, just, and fair for all.

The Enduring, Pernicious Whiteness Of True Crime

White voices and victims dominate the genre, which can skew the perception of what constitutes a crime.

Elon Green

Social Workers Are Rejecting Calls For Them to Replace Police

Some say their roles are already too close to those of law enforcement and are organizing for a radical rethinking of the profession.

Mia Sato

What ‘Defund The Police’ Means In A New York Neighborhood With High Homicide Rates and a History of Struggling for Justice

Although there’s a diversity of views about law enforcement in Brownsville, Brooklyn, there’s widespread agreement that the community is still fighting to obtain all the resources it needs to thrive and police itself.

Abigail Savitch-Lew

Officers Involved In Notorious Wrongful Conviction Aren’t On Prosecutor’s Do-Not-Call List

A state investigation found that Detroit police officers fabricated evidence that helped convict a 14-year-old boy. A judge threw out his conviction after he spent nine years in prison, but the officers are still on the job and haven’t been flagged as unreliable to testify in court.

Operation Legend Is Another Attempt to ‘Federalize’ Policing. Organizers Are Pushing Back.

President Trump and the DOJ are funding federal policing programs in cities like Detroit, Chicago, and Baltimore, but advocates say they’re unnecessary, harmful, and ineffective.

Marcia Brown

Austin Cuts Its Police Budget by About A Third

The City Council passed a budget that cut nearly $150 million from the Austin Police Department. Millions will be reinvested in services like violence prevention and supportive housing.

After Recent Unrest, Chicago Leaders Are Pointing Fingers In All The Wrong Places

In difficult moments like this, we can’t let bad faith attacks set our community back. What our families need are resources and investment, not more police on the streets.

Robert Peters

Orlando Sheriff, Who Is Running for Re-Election, Shot a Teen to Death in 1999

The boy’s mother says Orange County Sheriff John Mina has still never spoken to her after more than 20 years. And in the wake of the George Floyd uprisings, local activists are asking why Mina deserves to keep his job.

Austin May Cut Police Budget by Nearly $150 Million

The City Council will pass a budget this week that could cut nearly $150 million in funding from the Austin Police Department. The proposal appears to have majority support.

The Role of Police in Gentrification

A lawsuit alleges Breonna Taylor died because Louisville was trying to arrest its way toward economic redevelopment. Research shows this is common.

Brenden Beck

Police Violence Was a Problem In Portland Long Before Federal Agents Arrived

Local law enforcement tear-gassed and beat protesters and journalists.

To Cut Police Budgets, Start in Public Schools

The presence of police in schools is emblematic of America’s carceral approach to governing.

Aaron Stagoff-Belfort

After Woman’s Arrest in Unmarked Van, New York City Activists Fear Targeting by NYPD

Protesters believe law enforcement is looking for retribution after police arrested a woman Tuesday night and placed her in an unmarked van, a callback to recent events in Portland, Oregon.

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.

The Defund Movement Aims to Change the Policing and Prosecution of Domestic Violence

Though domestic violence is often cited as a reason to maintain the carceral status quo, advocates say there are more humane—and effective—alternatives.

Morgan Godvin, Leo Beletsky

The Feds Have A Long History Of Snatching People Up. Only Now They Are Targeting Middle-Class White People

Federal agents have been unfairly arresting Black and brown people for decades. Now that white Portlanders are seeing it up close and personal, they are outraged. Better late than never.

Impunity for Law Enforcement Must End. That Includes Officers in Jails and Prisons.

Qualified immunity is just one obstacle of many that incarcerated people face when seeking to hold correctional officers accountable for misconduct.

Joshua Manson

San Francisco Voters Will Decide On Abolishing Mandatory Staffing Levels For Police

Under current law, established during the "tough on crime" era, San Francisco mandated at least 1,971 full-time police officers. Voters will now have the opportunity to reconsider that mandate.

It’s Time To Defund The University of Mississippi Police Department

From crackdowns on Black students decades ago to more recent arrests during protests against neo-Confederates, the department has served as a tool for enforcing white supremacy.

Cam Calisch

10 Ways To Reduce Our Reliance On Policing And Make Our Communities Safer For Everyone

Police should no longer occupy all of our vital support systems in our communities.

Alex S. Vitale

In This Moment Of Reckoning Around Police Violence, Don’t Forget The Unseen Abuses Of People Who Are Incarcerated

Excessive force against people being arrested, falsification of evidence against suspects, and brutality by guards against prisoners — these are all just different forms of the same problem.

Vernon Horn

The Case For Racism Response Funds – A Collective Response To Racist Acts

Through this mechanism, communities can accept accountability for the racism they allow to flourish by failing to disrupt it.

Monica C. Bell

Reimagining A Future With Less Policing Means Asking Tough Questions About the Powers We Assign To Law Enforcement

As criminal justice reformers take steps to defund police departments and limit qualified immunity, it’s important to consider the role of universal and special duties in policing.

Eric Kennedy

How Prison Abolitionists Are Meeting The Moment

The COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality are strengthening the case against mass incarceration, advocates argue.

Emily Nonko

Will Maryland Lawmakers Come Back to Work?

In a moment of crisis, the state Senate and House are slated to be in recess until January.

Vivianne Guevara, Nakia Winfield

People In Crisis Need Social Workers, Not Cops

Social Workers address crises regularly and without an armed police officer standing in front of us. Often, the presence of an armed officer escalates a crisis that could have been better handled by mental health professionals alone.

Police at Polling Places Could Intimidate Voters This November, Advocates Warn

This year’s presidential contest will be the first since a federal judge lifted a decades-old consent decree barring the Republican National Committee from engaging in “ballot security,” or voter intimidation at the polls.

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.

Patrisse Cullors, Tim Black

Jacklean Davis Was The First Black Woman To Serve As a Homicide Detective in New Orleans. Did A Now Disbarred Prosecutor Bring About Her Fall?

In the 1990s, Davis was a policing superstar, hailed as the best crime solver the Crescent City had ever seen. But a dispute over a paid detail at a festival turned into a major federal case against her, brought by a prosecutor involved whose conduct in other cases was called ‘grotesque.’

Ethan Brown

Amid Calls to Reform Police, New York Activists and Lawmakers Demand An Elected Civilian Complaint Review Board

A representative board is needed to check the power of the NYPD and appropriately discipline officers for misconduct, they argue.

Amir Khafagy

Community-Based Emergency First Responders: Explained

Philadelphia Police Make Hundreds of Looting Arrests, Leave Many More Violent Crime Cases Unsolved

The city’s clearance rate for murder, whose victims are disproportionately Black, has hovered around 40 percent for the last several years.

Adam Eichen, Andrew Perez

‘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.

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

How the Federal Government Lost Track of Deaths in Custody

The Department of Justice is leaving researchers, policymakers, and advocates in the dark about deaths in police custody, prisons, and jails.

Ethan Corey

Activists Say Chicago Mayor’s Police Reform Promises Ring Hollow

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has hampered the process of installing a police oversight council, activists say, despite making it a major part of her public safety platform during her mayoral run.

Maya Dukmasova

The Supreme Court’s War on Miranda Rights in America

For decades, the Court has been carving out generous exceptions and crafting new rules that limit the Miranda warning’s real-world impact.

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

The Bumpy Road to Police Abolition

Protesters and activists have categorically changed the national conversation about public safety. Now they have to figure out how to change public policy.

Ted Alcorn

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.

Portland City Council Votes to Cut $15 Million From Police Budget

The cuts will defund a controversial gang policing unit and end the city’s policing partnership with TriMet, the regional transit agency.

William J. Barber II, Saru Jayaraman

Family of Black Mississippi Man Killed By Police Receives Narrow Explanation For Dropped Manslaughter Case

A lawyer with the state attorney general’s office omitted key evidence in a meeting with the family of Ricky Ball, who Canyon Boykin shot and killed in 2015.

Ko Bragg, Justin Brooks

American Democracy Cannot Breathe

Yes, we must radically transform policing in America. But we cannot stop there. We must transform the pervasive systems of economic and carceral injustice that are choking our common life.

How the Phoenix Police Department Spends Its $745 Million Budget

The city wants to give the force an additional $24 million. But the department is still failing to solve crimes, and officers have shot 212 people between 2011 and 2018, killing about half.

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.

Massachusetts Court Won’t Block Access To Reports On Who Boston Police May Have Targeted on Social Media

District Attorney Rachael Rollins sought to block the disclosure of records that could show Boston police used Snapchat to target people who are Black or Latinx.

Cops, Climate, COVID: Why There Is Only One Crisis

Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are both provoked by natural phenomena, the dangers they present are just as political as the crisis of police violence.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

The NYPD ‘Cancelled’ Police Court Appearances, Leaving People to Sit in Jail

Memos obtained by The Appeal and anecdotes from public defenders reveal how, for a week during protests over police brutality, the NYPD stalled cases by directing officers not to testify in court.

Suit Seeks $10 Million For ‘Senseless, Avoidable Death’ Of Tennessee Man In Custody

Sterling Higgins called 911 in March 2019 seeking help during a mental health crisis. Police took him to Obion County Jail, where he died after officers pinned him to a floor.

Tana Ganeva

For Essential Workers, New York City’s Curfew Meant Fear, Harassment, and Arrest

Essential workers say curfews put them at risk of police violence, even though they were exempt.

Houston Police Chief’s Speeches Supporting Protesters Were Widely Circulated—But Video Proves His Officers Cracked Down on Them

Videos contradict officers’ claims that they didn’t ‘kettle’ protesters.

The Camden Police Department Is Not A Model For Policing In The Post-George Floyd Era

The New Jersey department received slavish media praise after it was disbanded and reoriented toward community policing. But behind the reformist mask was an embrace of surveillance and broken windows policing.

Brendan McQuade

Louisville Metro Council Bans No-Knock Raids Following The Police Killing of Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor was killed nearly three months ago during a no-knock raid. All 26 members of the Metro Council have signed on as co-sponsors to “Breonna’s Law,” which would ban them.

Atlanta’s Mayor Wants $13 Million More For Police. Four Officers Were Just Fired For Using Excessive Force.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has asked for the budget increase amid ongoing local and national reports of police violence against protesters.

Ko Bragg

George Floyd’s Death Puts Spotlight On Controversial Syndrome Called ‘Excited Delirium’

Coroners and police departments have cited the condition in cases across the country, often clearing officers of wrongdoing when people die in their custody. In Floyd’s case, experts say, the diagnosis is irrelevant to his death.

Tana Ganeva

The Toll That Curfews Have Taken On Homeless Americans

The country’s homeless population was already struggling to access services during the pandemic.

West Virginia Cities Use Evictions To Combat The Opioid Epidemic

The ‘drug house’ ordinances that force landlords to kick out tenants are mostly compounding the overdose crisis, critics say.

Leora Smith

Police Killings Bring Out Tensions Within The Labor Movement

Some unions and labor activists are calling for the AFL-CIO to expel police unions.

Pennsylvania House Democrats Refocus on Police Reform, But Face an Uphill Fight

Democrats have introduced and reintroduced bills that have languished in the Judiciary Committee, which must approve them before they reach the full House.

Minneapolis City Council Members Announce Intent To Disband The Police Department, Invest In Proven Community-Led Public Safety

The move follows the police killing of George Floyd and more than a week of uprisings, where hundreds of thousands of people around the world have protested against police violence, and abusive police responses to the protests.

On The Day Of George Floyd’s Death, An Arizona State Trooper Killed A Man In Phoenix

Dion Johnson’s family wants answers about the last moments of his life.

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

L.A. Mayor’s Reaction to Protests Proves He’s Unfit to Govern

This weekend’s string of errors is just the latest in his career of cruelty.

Jonny Coleman

New York Protests Could Finally Push Through Increased Police Transparency

Lawmakers are targeting a statute that has been used as a cudgel to bat away almost any inquiries into police misconduct.

Too Little Has Changed About American Policing In the Last Few Decades. It’s Time For Something Different.

The killing of George Floyd demonstrates that incremental police reforms are insufficient in the absence of a comprehensive plan to transform law enforcement and its stated purpose.

David A. Love

For Trump, There Is No Policing Without Violence

A president who openly endorses police brutality struggles with a nation rejecting it.

No More ‘COPS’

Under the HEROES Act, the Community Oriented Policing Services program would receive $300 million to fund the hiring of more police. Democratic and Republican leaders alike remain committed to the ideology of increased funding, even under the guise of reform.

Ross Barkan

New York Legislators Pledge to Reject Campaign Donations From Law Enforcement

State Assembly members, senators, and city council members have said they will decline and donate funds from police and corrections officers as New Yorkers fill the streets to protest recent violence by law enforcement.

Bryce Covert

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

Mississippi Attorney General Won’t Pursue Case Against White Officer for Killing Black Man

Canyon Boykin was charged with manslaughter for shooting and killing Ricky Ball during a traffic stop in 2015.

Ko Bragg

Defund the Police Now

More training, more equipment, and more officers will not stop police from killing Black people.

Justin Brooks

Honolulu Police Keep Putting Homeless People in Jail

The city is flouting CDC guidance by continuing to dismantle homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it does not have nearly enough shelter space.

New Documentary Reveals Silicon Valley’s Role in Notorious Bronx Gang Raid

On the pretext of conducting ‘transnational gang operations,’ ICE raids have swept up thousands of U.S. citizens.

Simon Davis-Cohen

Despite Coronavirus Warnings, Miami Area Police Are Still Arresting Hundreds of Homeless People

As of April 30, one in three unsheltered people have been arrested in Miami-Dade County since a local state of emergency was declared in March.

TS Candii, Darializa Avila Chevalier

The Carceral Kings of New York

As COVID-19 spreads, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are slashing budgets, but leaving funding for police and prisons largely untouched.

Ross Barkan

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

New York City Must Take Action to Ensure the Most Vulnerable Survive the Pandemic

The city has created the structural conditions that have engendered disproportionately high rates of infection and death among its Black and Latinx residents.

Law Enforcement Leaders Agree: Money Bail Has To End, Especially In A Pandemic

The current coronavirus crisis underscores our urgent need to look hard at our pretrial justice system. Eliminating money bail is a necessary first step.

Ronal Serpas, Taryn Merkl

Federal Judge Blocks Michigan From Enforcing State’s Sex Offender Registry ‘Until COVID-19 Crisis Has Ended’

Michigan was one of several states requiring registrants to report to local police stations in person despite the risk to public health from coronavirus.

Dawn R. Wolfe

Government Enforcement of Quarantine Raises Concerns About Increased Surveillance

Louisville, Kentucky judges are ordering people with COVID-19 who have allegedly defied quarantine to wear GPS ankle monitors, raising ethical questions about the government's role in a pandemic.

Policing Coronavirus

As infections and deaths mount, state leaders and law enforcement are turning to tough-on-crime tactics in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Brie Williams, Leann Bertsch

A Public Health Doctor And Head Of Corrections Agree: We Must Immediately Release People From Jails And Prisons

Decisive action by governors and the President now can save lives -- of incarcerated people, correctional and medical personnel, and nearby community members. Business as usual will not.

Curbing COVID-19 Means A Moratorium On Unnecessary Arrests

In Boston, it’s worse than business as usual at the police department as the pandemic spreads. On a recent day, officers arrested people for charges the district attorney has publicly declined to prosecute.

Will Isenberg

As COVID-19 Spreads In South Florida, Miami-Dade Police Department Instructs Officers To Issue Citations For All Misdemeanor Offenses

One of America’s largest police forces says it’s drastically reducing the number of people it arrests during the coronavirus pandemic.

What Sheriffs Can Do To Slow the Coronavirus Outbreak

Sheriffs wield enormous power, and they can direct it in ways that will help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect incarcerated people.

Washington, D.C. Continues Low-level Arrests Amid Pandemic

The Metropolitan Police Department has discussed reducing arrests, but it has not formally announced any policy changes.

Jon Campbell

Undercover Providence Police Faked Withdrawal Symptoms and Solicited Suboxone

Rhode Island prosecutors charged nine people with felony distribution of the addiction treatment drug. Reform prosecutors in other states are declining such charges and instead encouraging access to the drug.

Julia Rock, Harry August

Sheriff’s Office Profiles New Jersey Student After School Shooting Thousands of Miles Away, Lawsuit Says

The student, whose last name is Mohammed, was subject to improper searches based on little evidence, his attorney argues.

Roxanna Asgarian

Bloomberg’s Stop-and-Frisk Philosophy Also Informs the Rest of His Work on Gun Violence Prevention

We need to be more critical of the former New York mayor’s outsize influence on the gun control movement.

Alex Clavering

Police Exploit Coronavirus Fears To Make Easy Arrests

In Los Angeles, Police-Backed Street Cleanings are Upending the Lives of Homeless People

The city is ramping up a cleanup program that activists fear will worsen the criminalization of homelessness.

Eliyahu Kamisher

A California County’s Sheriff’s Deputies Are Accused Of Mishandling Evidence On a Staggering Scale

Deputies in Orange County wrote false reports about their collection and booking of evidence, according to internal audits kept secret for months.

New York City Agency Has Underreported Lab Errors In DNA Database It Oversees

At least one error led to a wrongful arrest, according to a Freedom of Information Law request, underscoring the need for better oversight of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, advocates say.

A Man Shot by Chicago Police Is Receiving $10 Million From the City. In 2013, Rahm Emanuel Praised the Officers Responsible.

The former mayor issued a city resolution honoring officers for their ‘bravery’ in a shooting that paralyzed Tarance Etheredge, who will receive a payout from a civil rights lawsuit.

Study Finds Stark Racial Disparities for Low-Level Drug Offenses In Travis County, Texas

The authors reported that 29.4 percent of the possession cases involved Black individuals in a county where Black people make up only 8.9 percent of the population.

Dawn R. Wolfe

Jamal Trulove: The Enduring Trauma of Stop-and-Frisk

As a Black child in San Francisco, I learned early that mine and others’ bodies meant nothing to those supposedly tasked with our protection.

Jamal Trulove

Baltimore Defense Attorneys Claim Surveillance Plane Footage Contradicts Law Enforcement Account Of Police Shooting

Jawan Richards was shot by Baltimore police and hit with gun and assault charges stemming from the incident. His defense attorneys now say video evidence may exonerate their client.

Michael Bloomberg’s Stop-and-Frisk Legacy Came Back to Haunt Him This Week

As old audio clips of Bloomberg defending the controversial policing policy went viral, new data showed the practice isn’t fading away in New York city.

A North Carolina Professor Gave Up His Free Speech Rights To Resolve a Case Involving a Controversial Sheriff

Rann Bar-On pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson to remain a legal U.S. resident. For the next two years, he isn’t allowed to protest in the county.

A Black California Man Says a White Ex-Employee Assaulted Him. He Was the One Detained.

Erick Wallace’s federal civil rights lawsuit joins a long line of litigation and misconduct allegations against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

How Witness Identifications Send Innocent People to Prison

Mistaken identifications have been involved in nearly 70 percent of post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence.

New Video Of Fatal Shooting By NYPD In 2016 Raises Questions About Officer’s Account to Investigators

A civil suit claims that an officer who shot a 46-year-old stagehand in Midtown Manhattan should have de-escalated the encounter.

Jon Campbell

A Chance To Repeal A ‘Walking While Trans’ Ban

Family Sues Pittsburgh Public School For Handcuffing 7-Year-Old

In a lawsuit, the boy’s family said he was repeatedly suspended, secluded, and violently restrained before he was ever given a special education evaluation.

Roxanna Asgarian

Singling Out Crime ‘Suspects’ As Homeless Is A Media Double Standard That Unjustly Penalizes The Poor

Leading with housing status for homeless people is a common trope in the news reporting business and one in urgent need of re-examining.

Why Police Violence Is A Public Health Problem

In A Florida County, Sex Workers Are Ensnared In ‘Trafficking’ Raids

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister’s stings, conducted under the guise of targeting human trafficking, netted the largest number of arrests there since 2008. Sex workers say the operations put them at risk.

Molly Minta

Police and Sheriff’s Departments Join Media Campaign Against Bail Reform In New York State

A wave of sensationalist press is not just coming from New York City, but also from county sheriff and city police departments frustrated by bail reform that they claim is ‘too broad.’

New San Francisco D.A. Inherits Chance To Hold Police Accountable In Shooting Of Man With Mental Illness

Activists hope Chesa Boudin will press charges, and push for systemic changes to address the criminalization of mental illness.

The ‘Reasonable Person’ Looks A Lot Like Law Enforcement. Will That Change?

Crashes, Injuries, Deaths: The Dangers of Police Chases

‘Weird News,’ ‘Dumb Criminals’ and the Media’s Monetization of Human Misery

There’s a cynical local-to-national news pipeline designed to mock the powerless under the guise of “odd” news stories.

Money For Militarized Evictions, But Not For Homes

New Lawsuit Is Latest Example Of Residents Seeking Accountability For Wrongful Arrests In New York City

Charges in each of four arrests of a city man were subsequently dropped. Now he has become one of a long line of New York City residents who have filed wrongful arrest lawsuits against the city.

Dawn R. Wolfe

A City Council Resolution Could End Marijuana Arrests and Fines in Austin, Texas

The move is made possible by a Texas law that legalized the production of hemp last year.

Julia Rock, Lucas Smolcic Larson

Providence Police Gang Database Policy ‘Tramples Fundamental Constitutional Rights,’ Lawsuit Says

The department is targeting communities of color and violating local and federal law by using broad ‘association’ criteria to list people in a gang database, a Rhode Island community organization claims.

U.S. Senate Candidate Endorses Ayanna Pressley’s Criminal Justice Reform Plan

Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez of Texas told The Appeal about her vision for a complete overhaul of her state’s legal system.

Internal Affairs Investigators Raid NYPD’s Special Victims Division for Third Time

Logbooks were seized as part of an inquiry into misconduct allegations against high-ranking officers in the division that investigates sex crimes.

Illinois pardons are a reminder of the scale of marijuana arrests, past and present

Illinois Man Alleges Police Illegally Forced Him To Undergo A Strip Search, Rectal Exam

According to a complaint, police in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, subjected Tylus Allen Jr. to invasive searches, all of which turned up nothing.

‘They Can Do This To Anybody’

Misconduct complaints against officers in the NYPD’s 34th Precinct have risen for three years straight. In 2018, 15 officers had complaints against them substantiated, the most of any precinct in New York City.

In One California City, Police Kill With Near Impunity

Since 2010, no Vallejo officer has been disciplined for using deadly force, despite multiple shootings of unarmed people—including a man holding a can of beer. And active police union leaders have been involved in the shooting investigations.

Chicago’s Gang Database Can Have ‘Devastating’ Consequences, But There’s No Way To Be Removed From It.

Social media posts, tattoos, or the unvetted word of an officer can lead to inclusion on the list, which is overwhelmingly composed of people of color.

Legislation on New York City’s Sprawling Systems of Surveillance Finally Gets A Hearing

A City Council Committee considers a bill on NYPD surveillance today.

How to Rethink Drug Dealing and Punishment

Criminalizing those who sell drugs by enacting more punitive laws may lead to more dangerous drug use and will disproportionately affect communities of color, a new report suggests.

Boston Law Enforcement Has Been Fighting A Court Order To Release Data On Who Police Target On Snapchat

District Attorney Rachael Rollins ran as a reformer who would work to increase transparency, but her office and the police department have been fighting the order.

Police Play The Victim When Voters Choose Reform

The Crisis Of Murdered And Missing Indigenous Women And Why Tribes Need The Power To Address It

Community Policing Is Not the Answer

Investing billions of government dollars into programs that embed police in Black communities will not reduce police violence, nor repair years of injustice.

Philip V. McHarris

There’s A Pattern Of Police Unions Attacking People Who Call For Criminal Justice Reform, Especially When They Are Black

A Philadelphia police union’s recent attack on Players Coalition co-founder Malcolm Jenkins matches rhetorical tactics that officers’ groups are using in the face of outspoken support for criminal justice reforms.

Court Rules Police Can’t Lie About Lie Detectors

Kyle C. Barry

Hundreds of Victim and Witness DNA Profiles Removed From New York City Database

Advocates say the removals are more evidence of a troubling and unregulated law enforcement tool, overseen by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

In a Louisiana Parish, Hundreds of Cases May Be Tainted By Sheriff’s Office Misconduct

During the tenure of Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal, deputies assaulted and harassed men inside the parish jail. Several deputies were convicted in federal court, and now cases brought by the office are under renewed scrutiny.

A Tale Of Two Mayors

Michael Bloomberg Should Apologize For More Than Stop-and-Frisk, Critics Say

The billionaire and former New York City mayor defended the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslim Americans and mandatory minimum prison sentences for gun possession, among other policies.

When Police Violence Is Domestic Violence

‘I Never Thought Selling Corn Could Lead To Being Torn From My Family’

Philadelphia Trauma Center Closure Could Mean More Shooting Deaths—And Tough-on-Crime Talk

Research shows access to a trauma center is critical after a shooting. But as gun deaths are rising in Philly, one trauma center has closed. Experts say a rise in homicides may prompt more policing.

Uncritical Reporting on a Biased Baltimore Spy Plane Poll

A close examination of a poll backed by a business group reveals loaded questions, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and the shortchanging of very real privacy concerns.

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.

New York Subway Police Make Us Less Safe

Recent violent arrests in the city subways should make New Yorkers question the push by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA to hire 500 new transit police.

It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State

The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian.

Kelly Hayes

People Behind the Girls Do Porn Website Were Just Charged With Sex Trafficking. But Complaints Were Filed About Them Years Ago.

At least three women made police reports about Girls Do Porn in 2015, but recruiters continued to exploit women until the FBI stepped in last month.

‘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.

Ali Winston, Darwin BondGraham

California Court Destroys Files In Historic Police Corruption Case

Criminal case files from Oakland’s seminal Riders scandal were among documents shredded by the Alameda County Superior Court in 2015.

Austin Braces As Texas Officials Plan Crackdown On Homeless Encampments

Last week, the City Council reinstated a “no camping” ordinance meant to discourage people experiencing homelessness from sleeping on sidewalks and outside a shelter. Advocates say the city is criminalizing poverty.

Atatiana Jefferson’s Death Was A Failure Of Policing

Virginia Sheriff Seeking Re-election Took Campaign Donations From Healthcare Provider For Jail He Oversees

Sheriff Mike Chapman, who runs the Loudoun County jail, has received close to $15,000 in contributions from the provider since taking office in 2012.

New Lawsuit Focuses On Alleged L.A. County Deputy ‘Gangs’

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was elected on the promise of reforming the scandal-plagued sheriff’s department. But eight deputies now accuse Sheriff Villanueva of allowing a violent group, the Banditos, to thrive in his department's ranks.

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

California Gang Laws Are Normalized Racism

The gang database in the state gives police increased authority to approach and harass people for virtually no reason at all.

Emily Galvin-Almanza

Mississippi Sheriff’s Department Accused Of Racial Profiling Agrees To Reforms That Settle Black Residents’ Lawsuit

The Madison County Sheriff’s Department was sued in 2017 for allegedly subjecting Black motorists and pedestrians to unconstitutional stops and searches.

Empathy And Forgiveness At Amber Guyger’s Trial

A California Sheriff And Prosecutor Want To Jail Homeless People. Their Plan Is Unlawful.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood and District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer intend to openly defy a 1975 state Supreme Court precedent that says law enforcement cannot intentionally discriminate against a person or group of people.

Kate Chatfield

Helping ICE Stir Up Anti-Immigrant Fervor in Maryland

WJLA’s Kevin Lewis selectively reports on immigrants arrested for sex crimes to paint a misleading picture of violence in Montgomery County.

Mental Health Crises Require Mental Health, Not Policing, Responses

The Officer Who Arrested A 6-Year-Old Was Fired But Don’t Expect Much Change

Their Juvenile Records Were Sealed. Decades Later, They’ve Reappeared.

The Washington State Patrol has added thousands of old sealed juvenile records to a database it shares with law enforcement agencies across the country—erasing for many their chance of a clean slate.

Tori Marlan

On Homelessness, Trump And Dems Both Look To Police

How Local Media Should Report on Safe Injection Sites

In a rare case of local media nuance, a Boston TV news station provided a humane and health-focused segment on safe drug use.

George Joseph, Ali Winston

When Prosecutors Bury Police Lies

Court records and interviews with former prosecutors show that internal assessments of police dishonesty are rarely memorialized, potentially violating the rights of people charged in criminal cases and sometimes keeping the records of bad cops clean.

Law Enforcement Cracks Down On Climate Activists

Can A Sheriff Force You To Help Law Enforcement? Not In California.

‘No Knock’ Warrants Spur Wave Of Civil Rights Lawsuits In Little Rock

Police are accused of lying to obtain the warrants to conduct military-style raids on the homes of poor people and people of color.

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.

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.‘

What’s Not To Love About The NYPD Slowdown?

Assuming Guilt While Reporting on Mass Arrests

Kansas City news outlets called scores of people ‘violent criminals’ based solely on the word of police and the federal government.

A Pennsylvania Police Department Is Accused Of Klan Involvement and Discrimination

In a civil rights lawsuit, an officer in Allentown claims he was subjected to racial discrimination before he was fired.

Pennsylvania County Owes $67 Million After Man Finds Arrest Records on Mugshots.com

Elsewhere in the country, lawsuits and legislation seek to protect people from predatory mugshot sites.

Katie Rose Quandt

Police Respond To Accountability By Threatening A Slowdown

‘Is This The Guy?’

Police and prosecutors claimed facial recognition technology wasn’t at the center of a shoplifting case, but defense attorneys say it was the sole basis for probable cause to arrest.

Mike Hayes

Inequality, Not Violence, Is Killing Americans At Record Rates

Media coverage obsessively focuses on homicides, which are at historical lows. Meanwhile, suicides and overdoses skyrocket, quietly driving record declines in American life expectancy.

Painting a Distorted Picture of Crime ‘Spikes’ in New York City

Murder rates are at an all-time low in Brooklyn, but one would hardly know it reading the New York Times.

A New Mexico Man Accused a Deputy of ‘Gestapo’-like Training. Then He Was Arrested.

In Valencia County, a sheriff’s deputy who once faced allegations of excessive force in Albuquerque is accused of assaulting an elderly man.

Rape Survivor Petitions Supreme Court Over How Police Handled Her Case

Heather Marlowe, now an activist, says neglected kits are a reflection of who and what police prioritize.

Pulling Back the Curtain on Boston’s ‘Operation Clean Sweep’

Most coverage of police raids targeting homeless people and substance users parroted official—and fraught—talking points.

Chicago Police Pointed Guns At And Traumatized Children in Botched Raids, Lawsuits Allege

Children as young as 4 years old are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result, the complaints say.

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.

‘See How Quickly They Behave Once We Put Our Foot Down?’

A federal lawsuit claims that Palo Alto, California, police falsely detained, arrested, and beat a gay Latinx man—then boasted about their brutality.

Caught on Video: A Texas Man’s Fatal Pursuit By Police

The family of Ricardo Treviño, an unarmed 21-year-old killed by police last year, says they’ve spent months waiting for answers on why he was shot.

For New York’s Police Union, Any Accountability For Eric Garner’s Death Is Too Much

Spending billions on policing, then millions on police misconduct

Protecting Campus Police

The New Jersey General Assembly unanimously passed a bill to extend qualified immunity to police officers at private colleges and universities.

Mayors Running for President Take Heat on Police Brutality and Racial Profiling During Debates

Current and former mayors were questioned about how they managed their police departments.

What ICE Reveals About Itself When It Detains U.S. Citizens

Stoking Hostility Toward Homeless People

Dozens of reports about an indigent man in Bradenton, Florida, showed the cruel excesses of local news’s homelessness coverage.

My Year As A New Orleans Consent Decree Insider

The Crescent City is in the final stages of a multimillion-dollar federal police reform process. Here‘s why it and other programs like it fail to achieve real reform.

Matthew Nesvet

‘We’ve Got One In The Sweep’

Three Bronx friends recount their 2012 arrests in the NYPD’s ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ along with their experiences with the court system and incarceration, and reflect on their lives seven years later.

Olivia Heffernan

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.

New York City’s Homeless Diversion Program is ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ Reform, Advocates Say

A new effort to reduce arrests and summonses is criticized as continuing to criminalize homelessness.

Florida Sheriffs Arrest Hundreds In ‘Trafficking’ Stings

Offices across the state conduct operations under the guise of saving victims of human trafficking. But the vast majority of people detained, including sex workers, are charged with prostitution.

Molly Minta

America’s New ‘Sheriff of the Year’ Pushed to Allow Teachers to Carry Weapons in School

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County, Florida, is one of the state’s most controversial lawmen.

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.

Spotlight: Daniel Pantaleo Won’t Face Federal Charges. Will He Be Fired?

In Pennsylvania, a Kidnapping Law Could Unravel a Life

A Shippensburg man faces 15 years on the sex offense registry for offering a girl a ride.

Oakland Police Conducted An Illegal Search And Then Lied About It. But They May Be Spared From Discipline.

A California Superior Court ruling gives officers accused of misconduct access to investigator notes and files while cases are in progress.

Zachary A. Siegel, Maia Szalavitz

Media Frame: Fentanyl Panic Is Worsening the Overdose Crisis

Sensational and false news reports about the drug are pushing lawmakers to enact harmful policies.

New Reports Highlight Behavior of Port Authority Police in ‘Lewd Act’ Arrests

Expert reports in a 2017 federal lawsuit explore an alleged pattern of discrimination against men perceived to be gay.

An Infamous Louisiana Sheriff Is On His Way Out. Now What?

Louis Ackal has said he isn’t seeking re-election. But advocates fear that may not be enough to bring change.

Spotlight: The Dangers of Gang Databases and Gang Policing

Media Frame: A ‘War on Cops’ Narrative Without Evidence

ABC News claims anti-police violence is on the rise but offers no data.

‘A Town Without Pity’: Lawsuits Allege Police Cover-up of Sex Abuse by Officers in Maine

The accusations span decades and involve two separate Biddeford cops and at least seven alleged victims.

Roxanna Asgarian

Pennsylvania Police Department Accused of Sexism

Brandi Courtesis lost her job with the Gettysburg force after saying a colleague sexually harassed her. The accused, fired for another reason, may be back in uniform soon.

Spotlight: After Nipsey Hussle’s Killing, Gang Members Call For An End To Violence

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.

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.

Spotlight: When Police Spread Racism and Hate Online, It Says Something About How They Work

Orange County’s ‘Standard Operating Procedure’

The California county has a thin blue line that appears to protect not just the police, but also the DA’s office, criminal justice advocates say.

Spotlight: Departing Alabama Sheriffs Deplete Funds and (Usually) Face No Consequences

Arizona Man Faces Deportation After Filing Lawsuit Against Coconino County Sheriff

Jose Montelongo-Morales challenged the jail’s immigration detainer policy. He and some of his family members were arrested months later.

Floridians Are Suing a Cop Fired for Planting Drugs in Their Vehicles

Thanks to the diligence of one assistant state attorney, 119 cases were thrown out and the officer is under state investigation.

Katie Rose Quandt

Spotlight: De Blasio—The Circumstances of Layleen Polanco’s Death Shouldn’t Be So Perplexing

Spotlight: Will Chicago Get a Memorial to Honor the Survivors of Police Torture?

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.

Spotlight: A City Council Says No To More Police

Media Frame: Stoking Panic Over ‘Flood’ of ‘Juveniles’ in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

The sensationalist coverage of a handful of fights highlights local media’s misplaced priorities.

Spotlight: Neighborhood Crime Apps Stoke Fears, Reinforce Racist Stereotypes, And Don’t Prevent Crime

Spotlight: In A Study of Cops’ Facebook Accounts, 1 in 5 Had Posted Racist, Violent Content

New Orleans Police Appear to Use Surveillance to Initiate Investigations

City officials say its vast network of cameras are simply a tool when responding to 911 calls and complaints of criminal activity. But several cases suggest the system serves an additional purpose.

Mike Hayes

A New Moral Panic Targets Moms

In Pennsylvania, mothers are harshly penalized for leaving children unattended in vehicles, even for several minutes.

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.

Commander Of Major California Narcotics Task Force Fired For A String Of Thefts And Lies

Newly released records show that task force members faced allegations of theft and questionable overtime, all under the watch of a commander later fired for lying as the misconduct was investigated.

State Trooper Said Man Took Bag From Fentanyl Supplier, But Video Demonstrated That The Deal Never Went Down

Trooper testimony inconsistent with video and misconduct among state and local law enforcement in New Hampshire and Massachusetts have caused at least 15 drug cases to unravel.

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.

Incarceration Is Always a Policy Failure

Instead of building ‘humane jails’ to replace Rikers Island, let’s push the NYPD to cut down on arrests.

Bronx Cops Celebrated A Copwatcher’s Arrest. They Had No Idea They Were Caught On Tape.

New York City just paid Jose LaSalle of the Copwatch Patrol Unit nearly $900,000 over claims of false arrest related to the 2016 incident, but his fight for justice is far from over.

Ashoka Jegroo

A White Woman Was Caught On Tape Selling Heroin, But Police Arrested A Black Woman Instead

In a case of mistaken identity, Jada Noone was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police, spent 15 days in jail and faced a felony drug case before charges were dismissed. She’s now suing over her false arrest.

Police In California Are Killing Sleeping People

The fatal shooting by Oakland police of an unconscious man as he woke is putting pressure on the California department to rethink its deployment of force.

Border Patrol in New Mexico Stood By As Right-Wing Militia Terrorized Migrants

Videos and audio posted by the group and its supporters on social media raise questions about the agency’s role.

Are Sheriffs Necessary?

Advocates are pushing to abolish the office in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Houston Cop Who Led Botched Drug Raid Overwhelmingly Arrested Black People

After a drug bust involving Houston narcotics officer Gerald Goines turned deadly, questions are being raised about how he operated during his time on the force.

Mike Hayes

‘It Was Almost Worse Than The Incident Itself’

New NYPD data show that in 2018 the department closed nearly 500 rape cases due to an alleged lack of participation from victims and had a declining clearance rate for rape, raising questions over its handling of sexual assault.

The Appeal Presents: Raided

A new documentary explores the notorious ‘Bronx 120’ raid—and what it says about the evolution of policing in New York City.

Simon Davis-Cohen

California Cities Have Shredded Decades of Police Misconduct Records

Police union lawsuits delayed many local governments from complying with a new transparency law. In the meantime, some cities have destroyed files.

‘Please Help Me, Sir’

In September, Marcus Smith experienced a mental health crisis and begged Greensboro, North Carolina police for help. Instead, they tied him with restraints. Moments later, his body went lifeless.

William C. Anderson

Did Baltimore Cops ‘Conspire’ To Suppress Evidence, Leading to a Wrongful Murder Conviction?

Attorneys for a man exonerated in a Baltimore murder say detectives suppressed exculpatory evidence and that the police’s homicide unit has a pattern and practice of similar conduct in decades of cases.

Amelia McDonell-Parry

New York Lawmakers Want To Ban Sex Offenders From The Subway. That Won’t Solve Anything.

Banishing people from the subway will only marginalize them without addressing the problem.

Guy Hamilton-Smith

Women Describe How A Columbus Vice Cop Pressured Them to Trade Sex for Rent

Andrew Mitchell, a former officer in Ohio who was recently indicted on charges he kidnapped women and forced them to have sex for their freedom, will soon face a grand jury for killing Donna Dalton during a prostitution arrest.

Florida Woman Faced 10 Years For ‘Meth’ That Was ‘Just a Rock’

A scandal of falsified drug arrests is spreading at a Florida sheriff’s office that has also spent more than $1.33 million settling excessive force lawsuits and is at the center of the increasingly troubled Robert Kraft case.

Women Say Pennsylvania Cop Committed Sexual Assaults, Recorded Them on Body Camera

Their claims are part of a federal lawsuit; other women say they, too, were assaulted and the officer now faces a raft of criminal charges.

Miami Police Arrest Thousands of Homeless But Leave Rapes, Robberies Unsolved

In 2017, over 2,000 homeless people were arrested on charges including drinking in public and panhandling. That same year, roughly 1,400 people were arrested in Miami-Dade County for rape, murder, and robbery.

What Happens Before Police Press ‘Record’?

Critics say New York’s new interrogation recording law falls short.

Curtis Stephen

‘I’m Not Going Anywhere Until They Stop Killing People’

In 2009, Anaheim police shot and killed Theresa Smith’s son. A new California law promises police transparency, but her quest for answers faces a substantial cost.

Party Guests Suing Over Mass Arrest for Less Than An Ounce of Marijuana

Attorneys representing the arrestees in Cartersville, Georgia, say they were mistreated in jail, lost jobs, and endured public humiliation.

Texas Sheriffs Stand Against Marijuana Policy Reform

New bills would expand access to medical marijuana, but the state's sheriffs' association promises to fight even such modest legislation.

Michael Arria

Police Unions Fight To Rescind Parole For Former Black Panther

In April 2018, Herman Bell was paroled after spending 45 years in prison in a case involving the shooting deaths of two police officers. Now, New York police unions and the widow of one of the slain officers are challenging the decision in court.

Victoria Law

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

‘The Police Act Like We Are Nothing’

A new coalition of people in the sex trades wants New York to become the first state to fully decriminalize their work.

Inside ‘The Stop-And-Frisk Capital of America’

Claims including sexual assault of a woman with mental illness to lying in reports haunt the Miami Gardens police; payouts in federal lawsuits have cost the city's taxpayers at least $3.5 million.

The Mayor of Jackson Wants to Hold Its Police Accountable. Easier Said Than Done.

Since Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s 2017 election, at least five people have died at the hands of the law enforcement in Mississippi’s capital city.

Ko Bragg

California Police Unions Fight New State Law Promising Transparency on Misconduct Records

Senate Bill 1421 requires law enforcement agencies to make public investigative records of officer-involved shootings and uses of force resulting in great bodily harm. But law enforcement unions argue that the law threatens the privacy of their members.

Police Policy for Sale

Lexipol, a private for-profit company, has quietly become one of the most powerful voices in law enforcement policymaking in the country.

Scott Morris

I Arrested A Man On Marijuana Charges. Then He Took His Own Life.

A former Baltimore Police officer says it’s time for the department to stop wasteful, harmful marijuana arrests, especially after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s announcement that her office would not prosecute cases of possession.

How A No-Knock Raid in Austin Turned Into a Lethal Shootout

‘There were explosions everywhere ... I had no idea who was in the house.’

Family of Donna Dalton, Who Was Shot By a Columbus Police Officer During Arrest, Demands Independent Inquiry

Advocates say the case hasn’t been handled fairly and there’s little hope for justice.

‘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.

New Study Finds Body Cameras Aren’t Objective Witnesses

People who view body cam footage of an incident are less likely to attribute blame to a police officer than those who see the same incident through the lens of a dashboard camera.

Nicole Wetsman

New York Agency Declines to Help Trans Woman Allegedly Harassed by Law Enforcement

She is suing the Division of Human Rights for saying it’s not authorized to investigate her complaint.

Emma Whitford

Battle Over Fare Evasion Decriminalization Boils Over in D.C.

Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed decriminalization legislation that advocates say would curb the discriminatory policing tactics associated with fare evasion enforcement. Today, the D.C. City Council will decide if it will override her veto.

Ella Fassler

St. Louis County Is Profiting Off the ‘Muni Shuffle’ Long After Ferguson Protests

A new proposal to abolish small police forces seeks to end the cycle of debt and incarceration.

Teresa Mathew

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.

Alex Gertner, Kelsey Priest

Cannabis Alarmism Hinders Smart Regulations

Alex Berenson says he’s concerned there’s not enough research into cannabis risks, but his misleading arguments set scientists back.

‘A Convenient Scapegoat’

Cherie Townsend is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after she says they falsely imprisoned her for murder and destroyed her reputation.

Judge Attacks NYPD Practice of Seizing Teens’ DNA Without Parental Consent

The decision also held that the city’s routine storage of DNA profiles from nonconvicted people in a permanent database violates state law.

Melissa Gira Grant, Debbie Nathan

Trump Has Turned the War on Trafficking Into a War on Immigrants

The president is drawing on two decades of bipartisan support for crackdowns on traffickers to secure support for his agenda at the border.

ICE Is Using Driver’s License Applications To Arrest Immigrants

More states are giving undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses, but many DMVs are sharing their information with ICE.

Louisiana Strip Club Dancers Fear More Crackdowns as ‘Anti-Trafficking’ Law Goes Into Effect

A ban on dancers under 21 raises questions on the growing role of the state's Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control in policing clubs.

Daryl Khan, Clarissa Sosin

Video Shows Baton Rouge Police Pinning Man To The Ground and Beating Him

The officers were part of the department's Street Crimes Unit, known among residents for its aggressive patrols.

New Jersey Cop Sued Over Shooting Ranks First in His Department for Use of Force

Officer Sheehan Miles of the Trenton Police Department had 43 force encounters between 2012 and 2016, according to a new database.

Is The NYPD’s Special Victims Division Prematurely Closing Sexual Assault Cases?

Advocates say victims are being pressured to sign ‘withdrawal’ forms to quickly close investigations and protect the department from legal liability.

NYPD Commander’s Text Messages Show How the Quota System Persists

Officers say the language used now is more subtle but still encourages numbers-driven policing.

‘Things Have Changed’: A New Texas Anti-Immigration Measure Feeds Fear of the Police

SB 4 encourages officers to ask for the status of anyone they detain.

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

Immigrant Who Fled Gangs and Torture Challenges ICE Detainers

Attorneys for a Honduran woman are suing over the widespread jailhouse practice of honoring ICE requests to hold incarcerated immigrants for pickup.

Georgia Woman Endured Arrest, Million-Dollar Bond, and Months of Jail Over ‘Meth’ That Was Actually Cotton Candy

A notoriously unreliable roadside drug test administered by Monroe County sheriff's deputies led to Dasha Fincher being charged with methamphetamine trafficking.

Clarissa Sosin, Daryl Khan

A Year After Police Shot Calvin Toney, His Family Still Doesn’t Know What Happened

Baton Rouge residents say little has changed after Alton Sterling.

Black Men Disproportionately Represented On Sex Offender Registries

Even though it’s unlikely that they commit sexual assault at higher rates than other ethnic or racial groups, nearly one of every 100 Black men is on a sex offender registry, a rate double that of white men.

Could New Cash to Fight Homelessness in San Francisco Mean Less Reliance on Police?

Supporters hope the passage of Prop C may herald a more compassionate—and effective—approach.

Is A Philadelphia Agency’s Seizure Of Vehicles A New Form of Civil Asset Forfeiture?

The city’s experiment with civil asset forfeiture was supposed to end, but the practices of its parking agency and some in state law enforcement suggest that police may be turning to other forms of property confiscation.

Ryan Briggs

Lawsuit Accuses A Louisiana Police Chief Of Punching a Man and Throwing His Wife to the Ground

Then he ordered another officer to arrest the man.

New Evidence Reveals Columbus Police Filed Misleading Reports on Stormy Daniels Arrest

In internal documents obtained by The Appeal, the vice unit’s supervisor admits no specific complaints were lodged against Daniels or the club before the police took action.

A Suit on Behalf of 6,000 Women Decries Law Enforcement’s Handling of Sexual Assault Cases

In Travis County, detectives refused training that would have helped them interview victims of trauma.

States Are Enacting Their Own Bans Against ‘Sanctuary City’ Policies

In response, a new ‘Freedom Cities’ movement is rising to defend immigrants’ rights.

How Tuesday’s Sheriff Elections Dealt a Blow to ICE

Local allies of the Trump administration fought challengers over immigration policy.

Daniel Nichanian

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.

In Allegheny County, People Arrested With Cell Phones Can Be Charged With ‘Possessing Instruments of Crime’

Advocates say these charges endanger sex workers and urge the police to stop using them.

A Trump Favorite For His Hardline Anti-Immigration Stance, Maryland Sheriff Now Faces Re-Election

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins seeks a fourth term as critics blast him for a record that includes poor jail conditions, in-custody suicides, and the deaths of two young people at the hands of his deputies.

Brandon Soderberg, Raven Rakia

Rural Oregon Sheriffs Lead Charge to Repeal State’s Sanctuary Law

More than one dozen sheriffs support Measure 105 that would allow for cooperation with federal authorities even when an immigrant suspect has not been apprehended for any crime.

Mike Faulk

Baltimore’s ‘Eye in the Sky’ Plane Is Back With A New Pitch: Surveil The Police

Dismal police accountability has made communities vulnerable to private vendors.

This Florida County’s Sheriff Is Controversial. But His Election Won’t Be Close.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office stands accused of violating immigrants’ rights and dismissing a shocking number of jail deaths.

Program Meant To Fight Terrorism and Narcotrafficking Is Being Used to Target The Undocumented Community

Opposition to Operation Stonegarden, however, is spreading; one Arizona county just rejected over $1 million of its funds.

U.S. Marshals Exaggerated A Recent ‘Child Recovery’ Sweep in Michigan. Here’s Why That Matters.

Experts say playing up the risk of sex trafficking fuels anxiety and criminalization.

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

In Alabama, Black People Are 4 Times More Likely Than White People To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession

A new report details Alabama’s “War on Marijuana” ahead of a key DA election.

Man Convicted Of Obstruction For Refusing To Open His Door For Police

If his conviction stands, it could criminalize people who refuse to do things like unlock their phones or garages at police request.

Levi Pulkkinen

Secretive Campus Cops Patrol Already Overpoliced Neighborhoods

Campus police forces have become more professionalized, but critics say they operate behind a veil of secrecy and often exceed their jurisdiction.

Ryan Briggs

The Appeal Podcast: How Activists Brought Down the Most Powerful Man in Chicago

With writer Kelly Hayes.

Baltimore’s Gun Offender Registry Is A Misfire

Established to track anyone convicted of a gun-related offense, the registry has proved to be both racist and ineffective in reducing gun violence.

Suit Filed by Strip Club Workers in Columbus Sheds Light on Troubled Vice Squad

The women, who were arrested alongside Stormy Daniels in July, allege that they were smeared by arresting officers, but they’re just the latest to raise concerns.

After Pittsburgh Decriminalizes Pot, Black People Are Still Disproportionately Charged With Possession

About 51 percent of the people charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana in Allegheny County are Black.

When Handing Out Candy To Trick-or-Treaters Means Risking Arrest

Lawyer seeks end to Halloween restrictions that target people convicted of sex offenses.

George Joseph, Raven Rakia, Ethan Corey

Claims of Racism and Brutality Dog Los Angeles County Sheriff ‘Deputy Gangs’

A lawsuit brought by a Compton resident detailing an alleged beating by deputies is just one of nearly three dozen federal civil rights lawsuits alleging brutality and racial bias at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Inside NY Courts Where Sex Workers are ‘Painted as Victims and Treated as Criminals’

Two new reports challenge the efficacy and ethics of prostitution diversion programs in New York City and nationwide.

In Washington State, It’s Nearly Impossible To Prosecute Police Killings

This fall, however, an initiative goes to voters that would change the law on deadly force by the police, which has led to no officer there being convicted of wrongfully killing someone in the line of duty in more than 30 years.

Mike Faulk

Public Defenders Say New York’s New Policy To Reduce Marijuana Arrests Doesn’t Go Far Enough

The exceptions to the policy change could actually worsen the racial disparities in marijuana-related arrests, defense attorneys told The Appeal.

Ohio State Rep: If Police Tase or Shoot a Child, She Probably Acted ‘Stupid’ or Was ‘a Punk’

Rep. John Becker doubles down on his recent comments about the tasing of an 11-year-old for allegedly shoplifting.

Ethan Corey, George Joseph

Just 6% of Columbus Police Officers Account for Half of All Force Reports

Between 2001 and 2017, the department justified officers in 99 percent of use-of-force cases, according to data released through a public records request.

A Grand Jury Indicted An Alabama Police Officer For Murder. Then A Mayor Came To His Defense.

Jeffery Parker was shot to death by a police officer in his Huntsville home. A grand jury handed up an indictment for murder, but the mayor and City Council appear to be throwing their support behind the officer.

How decriminalizing sex work became a campaign issue in 2018

State Senate candidate Julia Salazar explains how sex workers’ rights is a key part of reforming criminal justice in New York.

Columbus Officer Was Under Investigation When He Shot and Killed Donna Dalton

Community outrage mounts over Officer Andrew Mitchell’s killing of Dalton during an attempted prostitution arrest.

George Joseph, Simon Davis-Cohen

Two Cops Said They Saw A Man Grope Women. The Women Disagreed. The DA Charged Him Anyway

An 11-month prosecution of a ‘forcible touching’ case in Manhattan sharply diverges from the office’s treatment of Harvey Weinstein, defense attorneys say.

Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Are Moonlighting For A Controversial Pipeline Company

Off-duty law enforcement officers are using state resources to work side jobs for the pipeline company.

Karen Savage

Doxxed By Berkeley Police

Critics say the Berkeley Police Department’s unusual practice of posting anti-fascist protesters’ mugshots on Twitter endangers activists and violates free speech rights.

Scott Morris

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.

It Is Now Even Harder for Trafficking Survivors to Get Visas

Local advocates are struggling with a new immigration memo that makes it more difficult to support these survivors.

Proposed Pennsylvania Bill Would Force Patients With Chronic Pain Into A Treatment Agreement

A bill introduced in the state would require all chronic pain patients to enter into an agreement with their doctor before being prescribed opioid medication for the first time.

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

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.

In New York, A Harm-Reduction Organization Is Leveraging Participatory Defense To Empower Its Clients

Grassroots group VOCAL-NY is teaching people with substance use disorder how to avoid getting ensnared in the criminal justice system.

Christopher Moraff

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

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.

After Hearing Concerns about ICE, Texas Sheriff Ran Apparent Traffic Sting That Led to Deportation Proceedings

A community group met with the Bastrop County sheriff in an effort to build trust between the sheriff’s office and the immigrant community. Then, the sheriff ran a sting that led to more than one dozen arrestees being handed over to ICE.

Michael Arria

Multiple Police Cars Summoned to Arrest Selma Civil Rights Activist for Allegedly Stealing a Campaign Sign

Faya Rose Touré, a 73-year-old former judge, says she’s determined to fight the charges against her.

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.

Drug Testing Organizations Save Lives, So Why Haven’t Rave and Concert Organizers Embraced Them?

Groups like the Loop and DanceSafe test drugs like Ecstasy and warn users of high dosages and adulterants, but federal legislation from the early 2000s has live music promoters wary of their brand of harm reduction.

NYPD Detective With a Shady Past Helped Lock Up a Pot Dealer For Federal Conspiracy

Jurors were barred from hearing about the eight civil rights lawsuits against Detective Jeremiah Williams.

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.

A Distressed Man Came to a Police Station Looking for Help. Hours Later, He Was In a Coma.

Earl McNeil’s family is demanding answers from the National City, California, police department.

Buffalo Lawsuit Challenges ‘Racial Profiling’ in Traffic Stops

Advocacy group demands an end to traffic checkpoints concentrated in Black and Latinx areas.

Prince Shakur

Immigrants Share Horror Stories From Inside Massachusetts’s ‘Worst’ Jail

“Jail is not a country club,” the Bristol County sheriff said. “That’s why once you’ve done time in the Bristol County House of Corrections, you won’t want to come back.”

California County Law Enforcement Puts Kids On Probation for Bad Grades

A new lawsuit says Riverside County’s probation officers threaten to prosecute kids for ‘pre-delinquent’ behavior.

Carimah Townes

Austin Cops Said They Shot A Man Who Fired On Them–But It Turns Out He Didn’t Fire A Shot

Lawrence Parrish faces charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and remains jailed on $500,000 bond even though the Austin police admitted he never shot at them.

Michael Arria

The Baltimore Police’s ‘Summer Surge’ Scam

A former Baltimore Police officer says that a plan to flood the streets with local and federal law enforcement is likely to yield more of the same ineffective 'broken windows'-style arrests.

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.

Emma Whitford, Melissa Gira Grant

Responses to Violence Must Move Beyond Policing

The solution to problems like unsolved homicides, especially in communities of color, cannot be reinvestment in institutions that wage violence against them.

William C. Anderson

The Family Of An Unarmed High Schooler Shot By Police Begs For ‘Real Change’

The King County Sheriff's Office told reporters Tommy Le had a knife. He was actually holding a pen.

Levi Pulkkinen

New Evidence in the Death of a Queens Massage Worker

Surveillance video sheds some light on the police raid that killed Yang Song last year while, advocates say, the raids continue.

The New Orleans Police Raid That Launched A Dancer Resistance

From local charities, to the editorial pages, to city politicians, New Orleans strip clubs were blamed for human trafficking, leading to abusive police raids – harming the dancers they claimed they were protecting, and pushing the dancers to fight back.

A Florida Sheriff’s Dramatic Drug Raid Went Viral, But It Wasn’t What It Seemed

In the ‘fentanyl’ bust at a ‘narcotics house,’ no opioids were seized at all.

A Man Menaced Me with a Gun — But I Struggled with Calling the Cops

Wendi C. Thomas

Lawsuit Tests the Supreme Court’s ‘Immunity Protection Program’ for Police Officers Who Kill

Kyle C. Barry

Two States Just Made It Easier to Take Babies Away From Mothers Who Use Drugs During Pregnancy

Lisa Sangoi

The Hidden Police Violence Epidemic Behind a ‘Swatting’ Death

Aviva Shen

The LAPD Has a New Surveillance Formula, Powered by Palantir

‘We Can Make Him Disappear’: The Power of County Sheriffs

Josie Duffy Rice

New Documents Reveal How ICE Mines Local Police Databases Across the Country

FOSTA Backers to Sex Workers: Your Work Can Never Be Safe

Jessica Brand, Ethan Brown

Data Shows Police Brutality in America is Getting Worse — 2018 Could Be the Most Deadly in Years

Shaun King

In Louisiana, Threatening to File a Complaint Against Police Can Lead to a Five-Year Prison Sentence

Michael Stein

The Secret Story of Corruption Behind Meek Mill’s Incarceration

Chicago Activists Organize Against Massive Police Training Academy to Be Built As Schools Close

Prince Shakur

Police Killed Saheed Vassell in a Gentrifying Neighborhood. Did That Make a Difference?

Brenden Beck

Houston Police Chief Who Called Michael Bennett ‘Morally Corrupt’ is Quiet on Police Brutality

Jessica Brand

Can Police Opposition Overturn Parole Reform?

Victoria Law

Despite Leaders’ Progressive Promises, NYC Remains ’Marijuana Arrest Capital of the World’

Shaun King

NY Gov. Cuomo’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Plan to Protect Your Kids

Guy Hamilton-Smith

Columbus Activists Turn Out to Support ‘Black Pride 4’ Protesters During Sentencing

Prince Shakur

Five Ways the Media-Driven Rape Kit ‘Backlog’ Narrative Gets it Wrong

Meaghan Ybos, Heather Marlowe

NYC Transgender Activist Says She Was Criminalized For Defending Herself Against Abuser

Her former partner assaulted her in her home. When the police arrived, she was arrested and he walked free.

Emma Whitford

A National Campaign to Crack Down on Massage Businesses May Harm the Women it Wants to Help

Melissa Gira Grant, Emma Whitford

NYPD Agrees To New Rules Limiting Its Seizures of New Yorkers’ Property

The Biggest Winners in Trump Budget: The DEA and the War on Drugs

In Portland, A Mother Sues For Answers About Why The Police Killed Her Son

Countering The NYPD’s Neighborhood Policing Scam

Josmar Trujillo

Police Accountability and Public Defender Groups Demand Transparency on NYPD Gang Policing

NYC Agency Uses Brooklyn Gang Raid To Encourage Evictions Of Entire Families From Public Housing

Emma Whitford

In ‘Anti-Trafficking’ New Orleans Strip Club Raids, Police Make No Trafficking Arrests

After New York Sues Opioid Manufacturers, Drug Policy Experts Warn That Legal Action Won’t Save Lives

Philadelphia to Make History with Nation’s First Supervised Injection Facility

Christopher Moraff

California Ruling Could Give Accused Gang Members a Chance to Clear Their Names

Maura Ewing

How Philadelphia’s Social Media-Driven Gang Policing Is Stealing Years From Young People

Stop and Frisk Apologies Prove that the Mic Must be Passed to People Most Affected by the Police

Josmar Trujillo

How a Group Policing Model Is Criminalizing Whole Communities

“Murder Every Day but the Spotlight on Bike Life”: Amid 343 Homicides, Baltimore Police Crack Down on Dirt Bikes

William Isaac, Kristian Lum

Setting the Record Straight on Predictive Policing and Race

Philly’s Gang Violence Strategy Doesn’t Work. Here’s Why.

Philadelphia implemented the “focused deterrence” model of gang policing, which includes the promise of critical social services. The reality is much different.

Maura Ewing

Amid Opioid Crisis, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Advocate for War on Drugs

Melissa Gira Grant, Emma Whitford

Family, Former Attorney of Queens Woman Who Fell to Her Death in Vice Sting Say She Was Sexually Assaulted, Pressured to Become an Informant

Cops Who Slap Homeless Women, Rape Prisoners, Assault Children, and Keep their Jobs … and Other Unseen News from The World’s Most Carceral State

Shaun King

Mixed Signals: GPS Monitors on Memphis Victims

Meaghan Ybos

Trafficking In Vagaries: How A Times Picayune Series That Found Only “trafficking opportunity” In Strip Clubs Paved The Way For A Bourbon Street Crackdown