The biggest problem with policing in America is not that some cops are racist, or that cops have the wrong kind of training, etc. The core of the issue is that law enforcement has far too much power and far too little accountability: https://thebaffler.com/latest/brutal-force-al-gharbi

Cops tend to stick together even when they know that their peers are 'in the wrong.' Sometimes they simply turn a blind eye, sometimes they help with a cover up. If one of them is punished for wrongdoing, they circle the wagons to punish the punishers, as in #AtlantaPD

It is extremely difficult to hold cops criminally liable for violating the law. The odds are so low that many prosecutors decline to press charges even when investigations find that serious wrongdoing occurred: https://thebaffler.com/latest/brutal-force-al-gharbi

It's hard to hold cops responsible in civil courts either. Instead taxpayers pick up the tab for police misconduct. Likely billions of dollars every year (more than half a billion per year from just 100/18000 agencies). The offending officers pay nothing: https://thebaffler.com/latest/brutal-force-al-gharbi

It is hard to have cops face even *professional* consequences for misconduct. When removed for wrongdoing, depts are often forced to rehire bad cops despite misconduct, or else they can just move to another precinct (and often spread corruption there): https://thebaffler.com/latest/brutal-force-al-gharbi

Cops know that if they do wrong, they are unlikely to face meaningful criminal, civil or professional consequences -- and that if they are punished, their peers and union will rally around them even if they are 'in the wrong.' This must change: https://thebaffler.com/latest/brutal-force-al-gharbi