Police Brutality In the US: History, Stats and Studies

Olivia and Raven dive into the history of the police force and brutality in the US, compare the police practices of the past to those used today, and share the saddening statistics regarding police killings, use of force, and discrimination against blacks and disabled people.

Discussion Summary

00:32: Topic intro, why it’s important to talk about the history of the police force and the statistics regarding brutality.

06:26: History of the police force in the south.

09:27: The Black Codes the police enforced to control freed slaves.

12:51: Establishment of the police force on the East coast.

16:59: The Jim Crow laws the police enforced against blacks, and the role the legal system played in perpetuating brutality against black people.

22:18: Police picking and choosing which laws they enforce.

24:07: Policing during the civil rights era, and what the police represent today.

25:36: The Stanford University study on how the police disproportionately target blacks for traffic stops.

28:42: What’s being done to prevent and reduce unfair treatment by police officers, and pessimism about these efforts.

32:09: Getting into the heartbreaking numbers, statistics on police killings in 2020, and solutions being implemented throughout the US to reduce use of force incidents and killings.

46:59: Police brutality against people with disabilities.

50:49: A piece of research from the Center of Policing Equity on racial disparities in police use of force.

1:01:22: Thoughts after discussing the research.

1:03:22: Outro.

 

References:

The racist roots of American policing: From slave patrols to traffic stops

https://theconversation.com/the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-from-slave-patrols-to-traffic-stops-112816

How You Start is How You Finish? The Slave Patrol and Jim Crow Origins of Policing

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/civil-rights-reimagining-policing/how-you-start-is-how-you-finish/

Black Codes

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes

Half of People Killed by Police Have a Disability: Report

https://namiillinois.org/half-people-killed-police-disability-report/

MEDIA COVERAGE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT USE OF FORCE AND DISABILITY a Media Study (2013

https://rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MediaStudy-PoliceDisability_final-final.pdf

police violence report

https://policeviolencereport.org/

Race, Arrests, and Police Use of Force

https://policingequity.org/what-we-do/research/the-science-of-justice-race-arrests-and-police-use-of-force

 

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Music credits: Opening: Goestories - Noir Et Blanc Vie

Closing: First Class - DJ Williams