Policing & Security • Community Health & Safety • Power & Democracy
Recently, I published a commentary in the San Antonio Express-News detailing the ways in which the Biden administration can and should utilize its executive authority to enact reforms across the dozens of federal agencies employing over 130,000 federal law enforcement officers. Such an effort would both meet needed reforms in these agencies and set a path for local and state law enforcement.
Ramarley Graham was shot & killed on February 2, 2012 in the Bronx by NYPD officer Richard Haste. Ramarely was unarmed & was not committing a crime at the time of his death. He was shot and killed in front of his grandmother in the bathroom of his home after Officer Haste chased him into …
Continue reading "#JusticeforRamarley demonstrations in NYC [Photos]"
Around the world, police departments, policy makers, and communities have struggled to develop best practices that ensure the delivery of both fair and effective policing. Recently, five police departments in Spain undertook an ambitious reform program intended to reduce ethnic profiling and increase the effectiveness and fairness of police stops and searches.
Their collective experience shows that change is possible—while also illustrating the challenges and resources required to make change sustainable. Through a series of steps outlined in this report, police agencies reduced the ethnic disproportionality of their stops, increased the effectiveness of stops, while reducing the total number of people stopped, and improved relations with ethnic minority communities.
Letter to editor originally published in "The New York Times" on December 1, 2014, regarding use of police stop-and-search data to promote fair and effective policing.
The messages keep coming in to the Facebook and Twitter accounts of a social network called REVA Spotter: 10.37am: uniformed police at Fridhemsplan station, on their way to the platform. 11.04am: uniformed cops at Central station, Sergels Square exit. Seem to be checking ID. 11.30am: police checks at Maltesholmsvägen and Hasselby Square. The updates provide …
Continue reading "Immigration Crackdown in Stockholm Provokes Pushback"
Police misconduct and violence continues throughout the world, often without any oversight, accountability or justice for the victims. Recent deaths of civilians by police officers in New York, violent repression of “Occupy” protestors, and rampant police violence in response to the “Arab Spring” have brought renewed attention to the persistent issue of police violence. A …
Continue reading "Policing the Police: Civilian Video Monitoring of Police Activity"
*NOTE: This statement was presented to the New York City Council's Public Safety Committee regarding internal oversight and accountability mechanisms within the NYPD. The statement detailed continued racial profiling and unconstitutional stop-and-frisks by the NYPD, failure to implement discipline for substantiated cases of misconduct, and recommendation to appoint a special prosecutor and independent police auditor. …
*NOTE: The full report, available here, was published by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on January 15, 2009. I conducted this analysis and drafted the report while on staff of CCR (from 2004-2009). This analysis was submitted to the New York City Council in testimony, and conducted as part of Floyd et al v City of New York …
“Quality of Life” Policing In New York City and its surrounding boroughs, racial profiling and police brutality have been institutionalized through a series of “quality of life” programs enforced by the New York City Police Department (NYPD). These purported “anti-crime” programs are based on a theory of “zero tolerance” for even minor offenses. Under the …
Marc Krupanski 