Culture of Policing and Police Reform

Modern policing has been the subject of significant public debate and academic scholarship over the past several decades for its role in advancing community safety effectively and being a legitimate actor in the production of durable community safety. There is significant empirical evidence on the role that police can play in reducing crime, particularly violent crime, but there is also evidence demonstrating that policing is overly violent and that there are racial disparities in use of force. Police violence and related racial disparities undermine the legitimacy of the police and therefore efforts to control crime, particularly in Black and Brown communities.
Join the Urban Institute for a conversation on the institution of policing, its effects on community safety, and the possibility of police reform, as well as findings from The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing, which uses rich interview and observational data to demonstrate how the institution of policing reinforces a culture of violence.