Tag: Police and Race

Drug Arrests Stayed High Even as Imprisonment Fell From 2009 to 2019

To better identify and understand recent changes in and effects of the use of the criminal legal system to address drug problems, The Pew Charitable Trusts analyzed publicly available national data on drug arrests and imprisonment, drug treatment, and harm from drug misuse from 2009 through 2019—the most recent decade for which data is available.
The study found divergent enforcement trends—high rates of arrest but substantially reduced incarceration—coupled with a lack of treatment options and high mortality rates among people with illicit drug dependence.

  • Drug possession arrests held steady at more than a million a year, in stark contrast with a large reduction in overall arrests, which dropped 29%.
  • Only 1 in 13 people who were arrested and had a drug dependency received treatment while in jail or prison.
  • Racial disparities in drug enforcement declined. Arrests of Black people for drug offenses fell by 37%, more than three times the drop among White people.
  • Increased arrests of White individuals for possession of methamphetamine offset declines in marijuana arrests and drove the reduction in racial disparities.
  • The numbers of people admitted to and held in state prisons for drug offenses both fell by about a third, accounting for 61% of the overall reduction in prison populations and 38% of the total decline in admissions.
  • The decline in the number of Black people incarcerated for drug offenses made up 26% of the decrease in prison admissions and 48% of the drop in the prison population.
  • Drug- and alcohol-related mortality rates increased fivefold in prisons and threefold in jails despite the decreases in the number of people in prison for drug offenses.

See more HERE

The report can be downloaded HERE

Austin Police Department Reimagining Public Safety – Phase-B

NOTE: There are a total of 3 related postings on Futureofpolicing that pertain to Austin Texas’ efforts for Public Safety Reimaging
The City of Austin released the second part (Phase B) of an independent analysis studying the impact of racism, discrimination, bigotry, and bias on Austin Police Department (APD) culture, policies, and practices.

The 14-month review conducted by Kroll Associates (Kroll), centered on three priority areas:

  • Use of force: Analyzing four years of use of force incident data.
  • Public interaction with civilians: Analyzing traffic stops, arrests, citations, and searches.
  • Recruitment, selection, and promotion policies and practices.

Read the report HERE.

“The completion of this report is an important milestone in our on-going effort to reimagine public safety in Austin,” said Rey Arellano, Assistant City Manager for Public Safety. “This in-depth analysis offers a roadmap to addressing systemic inequities that erode trust between Austin Police and the public.”

Key takeaways highlighted in a summary report:

  • Analysis of existing APD data reveals consistent disparities in use of force, traffic stops, searches, and arrests among whites and communities of color.
  • Existing APD data collection needs improvement to better pinpoint the underlying causes in policing disparities.
  • More effort is needed to shift APD personnel demographics to more accurately reflect diversity in Austin.
  • APD recruitment practices are creative, comprehensive and reach a diverse audience of potential recruits.

“I look forward to reviewing the report findings and prioritizing recommendations that can better inform updates to APD policies and practices to evolve how we meet our community’s public safety needs, recruit and retain a diverse and well-trained force, and provide greater transparency with improved data collection processes,” said Joseph Chacon, Austin Police Chief.

The Kroll analysis is an outcome of Council Resolution 66 which directed the City Manager initiate a comprehensive, multi-pronged investigation and evaluation of the presence of bigotry and discrimination in the protocols, practices, and behaviors of the officers of the Austin Police Department and how those factors impact hiring, promotion, workplace culture and community interactions. 

Kroll’s scope of work also included a review (Phase A) of the APD Training Academy and its progress updating curriculum to better prepare cadets for policing in a multi-ethnic, diverse urban population consistent with contemporary best practices.  The findings of the Phase A review were published in a report released in April 2021.

The findings of today’s Phase B report will be discussed during a presentation at the January 25 City Council work session.

Reimagining Public Safety | AustinTexas.gov

What’s New
January 2022
Report offers ‘Roadmap’ to addressing inequities in Austin Policing

This is the MAIN website to access all of the public safety initiatives. It looks like they do a very good job continuously updating what has been achieved, what they are working on, and what is future projects. From here or you can go to the different topics at the top of the page and search for what interests you. There are two other posts that pertain for lawn Forssman so if you search my blog page for Austin Police you’ll get the other two posts that are specific to policing.
— Read on www.austintexas.gov/publicsafety

Timeline of events since George Floyd’s arrest and death | AP News

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A timeline of key events that began with George Floyd’s arrest on May 25, 2020, by four police officers in Minneapolis: May 25, 2020 — Minneapolis police officers respond to a call shortly after 8 p.m.
— Read on apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-george-floyd-minneapolis-arrests-police-7d8130621a8bf2ecec3e7df57f27827b

2022 RIPA Board Report

The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (Board) is pleased to release its fifth annual Report. The Report contains an analysis of the millions of police and pedestrian stops conducted in 2020 under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (“RIPA”) by 18 law enforcement agencies, including the 15 largest agencies, in California. The Report closely examines a wide range of issue areas related to racial and identity profiling, providing context and research to deepen stakeholders’ understanding of the stop data collected under the RIPA. In the Executive Summary, the Board provides an overview of the Report. For ease of reference, there is a separate Recommendations and Best Practices section pulling out the Board’s recommendations in 2022. The Board encourages law enforcement agencies, policymakers, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), community advocates, and individuals to use these recommendations and best practices as a platform for discussion and implementation of reforms that will improve public safety in California. The Board especially recognizes that the community is essential to any police reform and that agencies and government should include diverse community members to work in close partnership with them to improve police services in their communities and across California.


Download the full 2022 Report

The California State Attorney General Office can be found HERE

Past RIPA reports are available HERE

Cop Out: Analyzing 20 Years of Records Proving Impunity | New York Civil Liberties Union | ACLU of New York

In the summer of 2020, the New York Civil Liberties Union obtained a comprehensive database of complaints made by the public to the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the independent agency charged with investigating complaints about NYPD misconduct. Then in May of 2021, the NYCLU added updated and more detailed information to the database, which now
— Read on www.nyclu.org/en/publications/cop-out-analyzing-20-years-records-proving-impunity

Why Violent Crime Is Rising – Michael Shellenberger

Aariel Maynor (left), suspected killer of Jacqueline Avant (right) with husband Clarence Clarence and Jacqueline Avant may not be household names but they are giants of black American music and philanthropy. Clarence is the former chairman of Motown Records, and responsible for the careers of some of America’s greatest African American musicians including Bill Withers, Babyface, and Terry Lewis. Jacqueline, 81, was president of Neighbors for Watts, an early child care advocacy organization, and a much-loved Beverly Hills philanthropist. Netflix last year produced a film about Clarence, the “
— Read on michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-violent-crime-is-rising