Selective De-Policing: Stanford Law Policy Lab Report Proposes Alternatives to Policing to Increase Public Safety

Stanford, CA, April 13, 2021 – The Stanford Criminal Justice Center (SCJC) and Stanford Center for Racial Justice (SCRJ), in partnership with the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), released a report, Safety Beyond Policing: Promoting Care Over Criminalization, that summarized the most successful “selective de-policing” techniques and offered alternatives to armed police intervention. The report comes from a policy practicum Selective De-Policing: Operationalizing Concrete Reforms, co-taught by Stanford Law Professors Ralph Richard Banks, David Sklansky and Robert Weisberg, along with Debbie Mukamal, SCJC executive director. 

“The idea behind the practicum was to put aside, for the moment, the question of the best overall level of policing, and instead to ask whether there are particular responsibilities that police departments have taken on over time but that might be better handled by other agencies,” said Sklansky, a former federal prosecutor and criminal law expert. “The continuing toll of violence at traffic stops, including the tragic killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota, underscores the importance of the fundamental questions addressed in this report–questions about what roles the police should be asked to take on in the first place.

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“The continuing toll of violence at traffic stops, including the tragic killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota, underscores the importance of the fundamental questions addressed in this report–questions about what roles the police should be asked to take on in the first place.” said Professor David Sklansky

Published in April 2021, the report included recommendations of concrete steps cities can take to save money and improve public welfare by moving particular functions away from the police and reassigning them to other professional providers. The recommendations in the report were categorized under the following four areas where police intervention was shown to be often counterproductive and prone to racial bias:

  • Mental health crises
  • Homelessness
  • Traffic safety
  • School discipline

The 80-page report was presented to members of the AAMA and will be shared with local governments and law enforcement agencies in California over the coming months.

Care Over Criminalization

The twelve Stanford Law students enrolled in the policy lab examined alternatives to traditional police enforcement in three key areas: responses to people in mental health crisis, interactions with unhoused populations, traffic enforcement, and school safety.

Through the partnership with the AAMA, the policy practicum team gained access to public officials in cities that ranged in size from Holly Hill, South Carolina, with just over 1,000 residents to Houston, Texas, with 2.3 million. Students spoke with officials in cities across the country who have implemented reforms designed to replace police with civilians trained in key areas such as social work and mental health. In addition to interviews with AAMA mayors and key staff, including police officers, the students conducted 22 interviews with academics, nonprofit leaders, politicians, agency staff, civil service workers, and a local judge.

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“The students’ work showed that we have asked police to do too much,” said Professor Ralph Richard Banks. “Paradoxically, the way to improve the work that police do is to ask them to do less—and to engage with experts who are better able to address key issues.

“The students’ work showed that we have asked police to do too much,” said Banks. “Paradoxically, the way to improve the work that police do is to ask them to do less—and to engage with experts who are better able to address key issues. These are not new issues but ones that have been with us for a long time. They have assumed heightened salience in the last year and the work we’ve done in this policy lab is one way to offer ideas to address long-standing issues that we need to address.”

Michelle Portillo 1
“Innovative alternatives to traditional policing are happening right now and those cities that are trying alternatives are experiencing less police-involved shootings and tremendous cost savings. These reforms are feasible,” said Michelle Portillo, JD ’21

“Innovative alternatives to traditional policing are happening right now and those cities that are trying alternatives are experiencing less police-involved shootings and tremendous cost savings. These reforms are feasible,” said Michelle Portillo, JD ’21, who researched mental health and unhoused population contact with police as well as alternatives using mental health professionals as first responders.

Addressing Racial Disparities

The three areas of study—police interaction in mental health crises and homeless populations response, traffic enforcement, and school discipline—share a common thread of racial disparity. “Study after study shows that Black Americans in particular are, in relation to whites, stopped or arrested disproportionately in relation to population and demonstrable crime rate, more likely to be searched, and more likely to be subjected to police force including deadly force across a variety of jurisdictions,” the authors wrote in the report. 

The report also points to racial disparities in school safety, with armed police disproportionately present on majority Black campuses—and Black students three times more likely than their peers to attend schools with more security staff than mental health professionals. Research included in the report showed that today, 45 percent of American public schools hire police at a cost of more than half a billion dollars each year. Over a five-year period, police arrested more than 30,000 children ages nine and younger. Among the report’s recommendations is the replacement of police officers with social workers, civilian safety officers who are trained to intervene in and de-escalate conflicts among students. Schenectady City School District in New York implemented such a program and has seen a 40 percent reduction in public altercations at their schools.

Implementing Institutional Change

The report offers concrete examples and proposals as a way to contribute to the growing question of policing in the U.S. during the challenges of a pandemic. The proposals recommended in the report—such as adopting permissive ordinances for homelessness, sending crisis counselors instead of police to mental health emergencies, and implementing restorative justice practices in schools—can help local jurisdictions address public health concerns efficiently and free up valuable law enforcement resources. 

“The biggest obstacle is institutional inertia and a long-standing pattern of just throwing problems at the police when we don’t have anyone else to deal with them,” said Sklansky. 

“How we address mental health issues and our homeless communities raise complicated public policy issues that only become the work of law enforcement because we don’t have other infrastructures in place to address them,” added Banks. “The report will hopefully prompt people to think of non-law enforcement alternatives to address some of these challenges.”

Access the full report here.

About the Stanford Criminal Justice Center
Founded in 2005, the Stanford Criminal Justice Center (SCJC) serves as a research and policy institute on issues related to the criminal justice system. Its efforts are geared both towards generating policy research for the public sector, as well as providing pedagogical opportunities to Stanford Law School students with academic or careers in interests in criminal law and crime policy. SCJC is led by Faculty Co-Directors Professors Joan Petersilia, David Sklansky, and Robert Weisberg, and Executive Director Debbie Mukamal.

About Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective, and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.