Decades of failed reforms allow continued police brutality and racism
Police brutality has a long history of being protected, reinforced and even redoubled for more than a century in the U.S. through a combination of political expediency and racism.
President Donald Trump’s executive order and the stalled bills in Congress to curb police misconduct are, at best, attempts to retune an instrument that was orchestrated for abuse.
As a former archivist in charge of the National Archives records for the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Prisons, it is clear to me that the history of police violence in the U.S. informs and influences why the U.S. is again facing protests over violence, racism and unjust death.
Wickersham Commission
Violence and corruption have long been the mainstay of American police.
In 1929, President Herbe...