Many people defend police brutality by saying that cops have a tough job to do and sometimes catching the bad guys requires a little roughness. But while policing is a difficult job, that does not excuse the above-the-law mentality fueling the all too frequent and unnecessary police violence we see. A lack of accountability is at the… Read More
Police violence will end only when there are real consequences for bad cops – not just in the most extreme cases, but in all of the cases of unjustified police brutality. Unwarranted police violence happens regularly, but there are almost never any employment consequences for the officers. This is because in most cities, two types… Read More
Ever heard of police officers “testilying” in court? “Testilying” is the cynical euphemism that cops use for testifying falsely in order to secure convictions against people whom they believe to be guilty. But there is obviously another word for it: police perjury. “Testilying” is rationalized as somehow justified because the cop’s goal is to make… Read More
At Altering Convictions we share our perspective about combating police brutality, opposing mass incarceration, and fighting injustice. All of our pieces presume a few basic truths that are inarguable. It is unacceptable for law enforcement to treat certain people’s lives as expendable. Law enforcement should honor everyone’s constitutional rights. And all people should be treated… Read More
With all our talk about police violence aimed at poor and minority communities, we have yet to talk about the group most likely to be killed by law enforcement: Native Americans. Native American men are incarcerated at four times the rate of white men and Native American women are sent to prison at six times the… Read More
There’s been a lot of press about unwarranted police shootings and law enforcement cover-ups of police brutality, but do you ever wonder how on earth a culture developed where some police officers could believe that it is okay to treat people that way? I certainly have. And here’s what I’ve come up with: the culture… Read More
With autism on the rise in this country, unacceptable clashes between police officers and autistic people indicate that there is a serious need for better education of our nation’s police forces about the differences people with autism present. Autism is a general term for a complex neurobiological condition characterized by non-typical brain development. There is… Read More
With all of the recent videos of unjustified police shootings and irrational use of excessive force, you would think that the entire nation would be deeply troubled by the police misconduct incidents and that everyone’s perception of police officers would be deteriorating. But that’s not the case in all communities. Take Ferguson: after the Michael… Read More
