Criminal Justice: Day 1 Policing

Bias within the criminal justice system is not a new phenomenon, however, in recent years, the massive impact of these biases on communities of color has been highlighted in the media, creating a national movement around criminal justice reform. Today we will learn about the damaging and often fatal effects of bias and over-policing.

WE CHALLENGE YOU TO ...

In communities in which people have more racial biases, Blacks are being killed more by police than their presence in the population would warrant. Read this article to see how data is used to pinpoint where disproportionate shootings of minorities were most likely. “Police Shootings: How A Culture Of Racism Can Infect Us All”

Stanford University researchers found that black and Latino drivers were stopped more often than white drivers, based on less evidence of wrongdoing. Read this study to uncover the extent of this evidence, which is driven by racial bias. “Inside 100 million police traffic stops: New evidence of racial bias”

Following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, The Washington Post began creating a database cataloging every fatal shooting nationwide by a police officer in the line of duty. Check it out.

In August 2020, then-Governor Cuomo announced new guidance for the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, which was established by the Governor’s Executive Order. Read “Westchester County in The Process Of Examining Dozens Of Police Reform Recommendations”