Meaningful Police Reform Requires Accountability and Cultural Sensitivity
Key Observations
- 25 million Americans have gathered in the streets, in all 50 states, to express their discontent with police practices in the weeks since the killing of George Floyd.
- Ultimately, transparency and accountability must serve as guides along the path to police reform.
- It is time for law enforcement to utilize the collective benefit of culturally sensitive researchers, policy experts, civil rights lawyers, experienced trainers, and the voices of the individuals who continue to be killed at the hands of law enforcement.
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Rivaling the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s, twenty-five million Americans have gathered in the streets, in all 50 states, to express their discontent with police practices in the weeks since the killing of George Floyd. Video has repeatedly shown that these lethal police tactics could be avoided, while polls are highlighting America’s call for widespread, systematic changes to a criminal justice system that has failed to attain the level of transparency and accountability necessary in a democratic society. Police reform, now more than ever, demands an evidence-based approach that must be identified and led by individuals who share lived experiences with the historically disenfranchised.
