The Deep Roots Behind Seemingly Sudden Rise Of ‘Defund The Police’

Politico: How ‘Defund The Police’ Went From Moonshot To Mainstream
To many watching the historic protests against racism and police brutality unfold across the country, it was a call that came out of nowhere: Defund the Police. Yet hours after the first videos of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer went viral online, those three words became the rallying cry of a movement that had suddenly won America’s undivided attention. (King, 6/17)

Politico: Poll: Voters Oppose 'Defund The Police' But Back Major Reforms
Most voters believe police departments need to be seriously overhauled but don’t back the “Defund the Police” movement, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted after weeks of protests against racial injustice and police brutality. In the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, a combined 59 percent say police departments across the country need either a complete overhaul (22 percent) or major reforms (37 percent). Just over 1-in-4, 27 percent, say police departments need a minor overhaul, and only 5 percent think they don’t need any reforms at all. (6/17)

The Associated Press: Calls For De-Escalation Training Grow After Atlanta Shooting
The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta in the span of less than three weeks have led to a push in the U.S. for more training of police officers in how to de-escalate tense situations before they explode in violence. “You’ve got to get cops to understand that it’s not a cowardly act, that backing off could save this person’s life,” said Tom Manger, a retired police chief in Virginia and Maryland and former president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. (Brumback and Rico, 6/16)

The Associated Press: Proposal Would Use Social Workers, Not LAPD, For Some Calls
Unarmed social workers instead of police would respond to nonviolent calls for service under a proposal Tuesday from several City Council members following nationwide calls for law enforcement reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. A motion signed by six of the council’s 15 members would use teams of trained city, county and community-based professionals, such as homeless outreach workers, to handle certain emergency situations, such as mental health crises and substance abuse calls. (6/16)

Los Angeles Times: LA Council Want Specialists, Not LAPD, For Some Calls
A motion submitted by City Council members Nury Martinez, Herb Wesson, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Bob Blumenfield asks city departments to work with the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to develop a model that diverts nonviolent calls for service away from the LAPD and to “appropriate non-law enforcement agencies.” The LAPD now has a “greater role in dealing with homelessness, mental health and even COVID-19-related responses” the motion states, blaming budget cuts to social service programs for the city’s increased reliance on police officers. (Smith, 6/16)

Politico: Garcetti Embraces More Limited Role For LAPD, Backs Away From DA Lacey
As advocates clamor for more police accountability, [LA Mayor Eric] Garcetti endorsed a proposal from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to decertify police officers who have committed serious misconduct and advocated having independent prosecutors investigate police shootings rather than having district attorneys do the investigations. Growing attention to police reform has put a spotlight on the role of elected prosecutors, and Los Angeles is hosting the most important district attorney race in the country. (White and Marinucci, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: Activists, Students Rally, Call For End To L.A. School Police
Hundreds of students, parents and community members gathered in front of a downtown L.A. high school Tuesday, calling for the elimination of the Los Angeles School Police Department, a force of about 470 officers and civilians. The rally and march began at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, just west of downtown, and ended at the nearby school district headquarters during an L.A. Board of Education meeting. The future of school policing,however, was not on the posted agenda of the closed-door session. (Kohli and Blume, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Richmond Police Chief William Smith Ousted After Days Of Protests
Mayor Levar Stoney said he had requested and accepted the resignation of Police Chief William Smith after two nights of tense demonstrations that involved chemical gas and rubber bullets outside the city's police headquarters. Those standoffs marked a violent deterioration in relations between police and the community, which had already been strained by more than two weeks of protests sparked by national outrage over police brutality against African Americans. (Schneider and Vozzela, 6/16)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Session Reboot Opens With New Call For Hate-Crimes Law
With protesters outside and inside the Capitol demanding change, the Georgia General Assembly reopened for business Monday amid bipartisan calls to pass hate-crimes legislation. The rebooting of the 2020 session, which was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, came during protests over the recent killing of African Americans, including unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, shot by a white man who chased him down, and the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks on Friday night in the parking lot of an Atlanta fast-food restaurant. (Salzer and Niesse, 6/15)

Stateline: Police Ties To Ring Home Surveillance Comes Under Scrutiny 
Amid nationwide protests against police abuses against black people, some civil liberties advocates are calling for Amazon to stop its partnerships with law enforcement agencies through its Ring home surveillance cameras. “These camera registries will only serve to exacerbate existing forms of discrimination that are rampant within policing and the criminal justice system,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, a civil rights advocacy nonprofit focused on technology. (Van Ness, 6/17)

The New York Times: Trump And De Blasio, Political Opposites, Have Similar Flaws And Challenges
During the social unrest and racial awakening of the 1960s and ’70s, the mayor of New York, John V. Lindsay, coined a memorable phrase about his chosen occupation: “the second toughest job in America.” This wasn’t self-indulgence on Lindsay’s part; the complexities of leading New York have sometimes rivaled the challenges of the presidency. It would follow, then, that during this moment when New York is so central to the crises afflicting the country — as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and convulsing with protests related to its long, troubled history of racism in policing — that the president, a New Yorker himself, and the mayor would rise as their predecessors did to lead the country in times of shared despair. (Peters, 6/17)

Bloomberg: Cisco Spending $500 Million On Covid-19 Relief, Anti-Racism 
Cisco Systems Inc. said it’s put more money into efforts to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and now is directing some of its contributions to help tackle systemic racism. The biggest maker of computer networking gear and one of the most cash-rich companies in technology is using part of its Cisco Live technology conference to address the role of companies in tackling social issues. It had previously announced spending $50 million on helping homeless people in Silicon Valley and a further $225 on fighting the effects of the virus. The commitment has now been increased to half a billion dollars, the San Jose, California-based company said Tuesday. (King, 6/16)

The Washington Post: Fixing The Disparity In How Black And White Troops Are Punished Will Take Training, Military Leaders Say
Disparities in how white U.S. troops and service members of color are treated in the military justice system have persisted for years and new efforts are needed to understand racial bias and its consequences, senior officers told a congressional panel Tuesday. The officers, all military lawyers, acknowledged years of data showing that black service members have faced investigations, courts-martial and other forms of discipline more frequently than white service members in a system in which commanders have the power to decide how to prosecute. (Lamothe, 6/16)

WBUR: 'Stay Focused': Rep. James Clyburn Warns Against Undercutting The Movement For Racial Justice
Rep. James Clyburn says he agrees with calls to defund law enforcement but warns against allowing “sloganeering” to undercut the movement for racial justice. On CNN this week, Clyburn said “nobody is going to defund the police,” while advocates are calling for municipalities to reinvest money from large police budgets into schools, housing, mental health and other areas. (Hobson, 6/16)

Bangor Daily News: State Investigating Portland Jail’s Use Of Pepper Spray Against 2 Inmates With Mental Illness 
The state is reviewing whether Cumberland County Jail guards used excessive force last year when they pepper sprayed two inmates in the throes of psychosis and then allegedly failed to provide them with enough medical care before bringing them to a psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment. In one case, staff at the Portland jail filled a man’s cell with pepper spray to handcuff him. He had grown violent and wasn’t following officers’ commands as they tried to restrain him to drive him to the hospital. (Ferguson, 6/16)

WBUR: 'It’s A Risk We Have To Take': Protesters Make Efforts To Reduce The Threat Of Coronavirus 
Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a wave of demonstrations against racism and police brutality has brought crowds together across the country in some of the largest gatherings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. At events in Boston, Worcester and other cities, protesters packed the streets, sometimes numbering in the thousands, and law enforcement officers stood shoulder to shoulder in tight formations. (Chen, 6/16)