Promising federal efforts to increase police transparency and accountability under the Obama administration —including implementing the recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing — are under attack by the Trump administration’s “law and order” regime. In a glaring example of moving backwards, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will cease “pattern and practice” investigations, discarding a powerful tool that has shined a spotlight on institutionalized police bias in dozens of communities — including Ferguson, Baltimore, and Chicago. Further, local city leaders will no longer be able to reduce tensions in the aftermath of tragic police incidents by inviting a DOJ investigation of their community’s law enforcement agencies. Despite these setbacks at the federal level, local civilian efforts — supported by leadership from bold public officials — provide promising alternative models for cities to conduct investigations of local law enforcement agencies. This webinar details two such efforts: the San Francisco Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement and the Los Angeles County Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence.

Featured Speakers:

• George Gascón, San Francisco District Attorney
• Miriam Krinsky, Executive Director, Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence
• Anand Subramanian, Executive Director, Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement (moderator)