Because Psychology Can Help Reduce Police Violence

Disproportionate police violence against minority communities, while not a new phenomenon, took on greater prominence in the national consciousness following the deaths of African Americans Michael Brown in 2014 and George Floyd in 2020. Like so many critical social issues that receive such focused attention, perceptions of racial bias in policing have become politicized and entrenched in recent years.

Social science can help us break through this entrenchment and better understand the causes and consequences of police violence without succumbing to simple narratives, blame, or stereotypes.

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Because Education and Research are Essential for Solving Crime and Justice Problems

Police agencies across America are in the hot seat. Frontline officers’ every move is scrutinized, and anything that resembles excessive force is recorded and shared on social media. Extreme acts of police violence, including wrongful shootings, garner even more attention. They make for viral videos and shocking news headlines. They spur community groups and politicians into action. In response to real and perceived police abuses, a movement is now afoot to “defund” the police. It sounds serious, implying that money should be stripped from policing budgets as punishment for law enforcement misdeeds. Proposals to defund the police, however, are much more complex and nuanced than these discussions typically let on. However, many people misunderstand what defunding entails, and relatively little research exists on which supporters can base their proposals—and in some cases, the research is ignored altogether. This is where criminal justice and criminological researchers and educators come in.

What does it mean to “defund” the police? It is not punishment. Rather, it is the reallocation or redirection of funding away from police departments to other government agencies—and possibly beyond. Defunding is not about abolishing policing, nor is it about starting over. Its concern, instead, is with the efficient allocation of public resources. It asks several questions in this regard. Should police respond to all types of 911 calls? Could they be more effective in apprehending lawbreakers if they weren’t tied up with trivial, noncriminal incidents? If money is taken from policing, where can and should it go? Other government agencies? Social service providers? Years of research shows no strong connection between police funding and crime, so perhaps it is time to rethink how the money is spent. That is the essence of the defunding movement. We might go so far as to say the term “defunding” undermines the potential of an otherwise interesting set of ideas. Defunding will struggle to get off the ground if people fail to understand what it is. Education is essential.

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Because It Can Teach Police Nonviolence and How to Work with Local Residents

This article originally appeared on January 24, 2020 as “Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents” in The Conversation and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Police have a saying, “better to be judged by 12 than carried by six,” acknowledging they might face a jury if they use excessive force, but it’s preferable to being killed in the line of duty. Many police oppose civilian oversight of their departments, which could prevent both criminal charges and death. Yet right now, all over the U.S., the public is judging police for how they act.

Some police officers question the usefulness of training in de-escalation techniques, which have been shown to reduce threats to them and members of the public. Officers often say it’s hard for civilians to understand how difficult it is for them to “keep cool” during chaotic and dangerous moments.

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