Let the Sunshine In: Illuminating the Powerful Role Police Unions Play in Shielding Officer Misconduct

Abstract

In recent years, videos capturing the fatal shootings of unarmed men of color by police officers have swept media outlets and public discourse. Facilitated by cellphone video and social media and spurred by a new generation of Black Lives Matter activists, public awareness of excessive force incidents has gained new momentum and shined a light on broader concerns about racial disparities within our criminal justice system. In 2010, almost ten out of every 1,000 American police officers were accused of some type of police misconduct.1 In 2015, one thousand people were killed in officer-involved shootings.2 Although African-American men only make up six percent of the population, they made up forty percent of those killed.3

Details

Publisher:
Stanford University Stanford, California
Citation(s):
  • Katherine J. Bies, Let the Sunshine In: Illuminating the Powerful Role Police Unions Play in Shielding Officer Misconduct, 28 Stanford Law & Policy Review 109 (2017).
Related Organization(s):