It has been over a month since Niani Finlayson was gunned down in front of her 9-year-old daughter by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy in Lancaster, California. As Finlayson’s devastated mother prepares to bury her youngest child, community activists have been calling for justice and transparency from the law enforcement agency that’s sworn […]
Policing
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
The Two Conversations Black Parents Have With Their Kids
Shanice Stewart and her son, Brandon, were on their way to his football practice when Sacramento, California, police pulled them over along the side of a highway. What she thought would be a routine traffic stop turned into a terrifying ordeal: Her 8-year-old was misidentified as a juvenile suspect. Stewart said she did all she […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
What Police Say Vs. What They Do on Tape
Stephen Clay Perkins was gunned down by police in front of his home. Weeks later, what police say happened is at odds with what surveillance video actually shows. The almost daily protests since Perkins’ death on Sept. 29, his family’s demands for the release of police body camera footage, and discrepancies between police statements and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Facial Recognition Technology and False Arrests: Should Black People Worry?
Technological advancements such as location tracking and DNA testing over the past 20 years have contributed to law enforcement’s ability to close a criminal investigation. But their use of facial recognition software in recent years has resulted in the wrongful arrests of seven Black people — foreshadowing another potential form of racial discrimination in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
What Happened to Jaylin McKenzie? His Mom Demands Police Transparency
A week before Christmas last year, Jaylin McKenzie was visiting family in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was shot and killed by a police officer following a traffic stop. For nearly nine months, his mother, Ashley McKenzie-Smith, says she has been trying every avenue possible to get the truth about what happened to her only son […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
What to Do If You Witness Possible Police Misconduct
Disturbing cellphone and police body camera footage of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy tackling a Black woman to the ground as she filmed the arrest of a man raises questions about how bystanders can protect themselves while documenting possible police misconduct. In police body camera footage released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Mississippi Police Department Faces a $400M Federal Lawsuit for Shooting Man in Jaw
A Mississippi man who barely survived being shot in the mouth while six white Rankin County police officers held him and his friend during an alleged drug raid has filed a $400 million federal lawsuit. Michael Corey Jenkins, 32, and Eddie T. Parker, 35, both Black, say their civil rights were violated on Jan. 24 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Policing
Amid National Scrutiny of Policing, HBCU Chiefs Work to Remake Relationships With Students
Ace Conyers isn’t the typical South Carolina State University student. His father is the university’s president. But that connection hasn’t always kept Conyers feeling comfortable on campus. He remembers a particularly helpless moment during his freshman year. It was his first night on campus. He was playing music and sitting outside of Earle, a male […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Families and Survivors of Police Brutality Continue Their Call to End Qualified Immunity
Four years ago, Vicky Lewis was having a heart-to-heart conversation with her 17-year-old son about his future. He was killed 24 hours later. High school senior Isaiah Lewis was just two months away from turning 18 and three weeks from graduating when he was fatally shot on April 29, 2019, by a police officer in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Family of Black Mom Shot 17 Times in the Back by Police Sues
Last summer, Jada Elizabeth Johnson was shot in the back 17 times by a police officer after she was disarmed and pinned down by another officer during a mental health crisis, according to a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed April 7, provides more details about what happened inside her grandfather’s Fayetteville, North Carolina, home on July […]