Racial Justice & Police Reform in the USA: A Comprehensive Guide to Accountability, Change, and the Path Forward

Police Reform and Racial Justice in America Today

Police reform in the United States represents an ongoing movement seeking transformative changes to law enforcement systems, with particular focus on addressing racial disparities and enhancing accountability. As of 2025, this movement has gained renewed urgency following data showing 2024 saw 1,365 people killed by law enforcement, marking the highest level of deadly police encounters since 2013.

The intersection of racial justice and policing remains one of America's most pressing civil rights challenges, with Black and Latino residents continuing to be disproportionately affected by police violence across the nation.

What Is Police Reform? Key Definitions and Core Concepts

Police reform encompasses systematic changes designed to improve law enforcement practices, increase transparency, and ensure equal treatment under the law. The movement centers on several fundamental goals:

1. Police Accountability: Mechanisms to hold officers responsible for misconduct, including civilian oversight boards, body camera requirements, and public reporting of disciplinary actions.

2. Use of Force Standards: Policies that make physical force a last resort, with clear guidelines on when officers can use weapons, restraints, or other coercive measures.

3. Qualified Immunity Reform: Efforts to limit or eliminate legal protections that shield officers from civil liability in misconduct cases.

4. Community Policing: Strategies emphasizing relationship-building between law enforcement and the communities they serve, fostering trust and collaboration.

5. De-escalation Training: Programs teaching officers conflict resolution techniques to reduce violent encounters and emphasize verbal intervention.

Why Does Racial Justice Matter in Policing? The Statistical Reality

The racial dimension of police reform cannot be separated from its urgency. Current data reveals stark disparities:

In Chicago, Black residents were more than 30 times more likely to be killed by police than white residents, while in St. Louis, Black residents faced more than 10 times the risk compared to white residents. These neighborhood-level disparities, tracked systematically since 2024, demonstrate how police violence disproportionately impacts communities of color.

Mental health intersects critically with these statistics: when information about victims' mental state is available, one in five people killed by police exhibited signs of mental illness, highlighting the need for alternative crisis response models.

The George Floyd Effect: How 2020 Changed the Reform Conversation

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, catalyzed unprecedented national attention to police violence and systemic racism. Floyd's death under the knee of former officer Derek Chauvin sparked global protests and legislative efforts that continue to shape reform debates.

What Happened After George Floyd's Death?

• In response to Floyd's death, the Minnesota legislature passed a policing reform package in July 2020 that largely banned the use of chokeholds and instituted requirements for officer intervention. This state-level action represented one of the first concrete legislative responses to the crisis.

• However, roughly seven in ten Americans (72%) say the increased focus on race and racial inequality after Floyd's killing did not lead to changes that improved the lives of Black people, and 54% say the relationship between Black people and police is about the same as before Floyd was killed, revealing the gap between attention and meaningful change.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act: What You Need to Know

The most prominent federal legislative response to police violence has been the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, though it has yet to become law.

Key Provisions of the Proposed Legislation

The Act seeks to address police brutality and racial bias through several mechanisms:

• Banning chokeholds and carotid holds at the federal level

• Ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers

• Creating a national police misconduct registry to track officers with histories of abuse

• Mandating federal uniformed officers to wear body cameras

• Prohibiting racial profiling and requiring training on racial bias

• Reforming use of force standards to emphasize de-escalation

Legislative Journey and Political Challenges

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, reintroduced the act in the House in May 2024, less than two months before she died. Despite multiple attempts, no comprehensive federal police reform legislation has passed Congress as of 2025, reflecting deep political divisions on law enforcement policy.

Current State of Police Violence: 2024-2025 Data and Trends

Rising Deaths Despite Falling Crime Rates

• The rise in police violence came even as early data showed an overall national decline in homicides and other violent crimes, creating a troubling disconnect between public safety improvements and police use of deadly force.

• FBI data confirms that 2024 was another year of historic declines in the nation's murder rate, violent crime rate, and property crime rate, yet law enforcement killings reached a decade high.

The Trump Administration's Impact on Reform Efforts

• President Trump campaigned on ending all Department of Justice pattern and practice investigations into troubled police departments, signaling a federal retreat from police accountability measures that had been used to identify and address systemic misconduct in local agencies.

State-by-State Police Reform: Progress and Resistance

Police reform efforts vary dramatically across states, with some advancing accountability measures while others enact "pro-policing" legislation that limits oversight.

Reform Leaders vs. Reform Resisters

• Minnesota's Governor Waltz supported police reforms following George Floyd's murder, while Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill blocking cities in the state from implementing some police reforms, essentially making Memphis laws ineffective. This state represents the polarized landscape where reform progress depends heavily on local political will.

• Massachusetts provides a case study in accountability infrastructure: the state's Police Reform Bill established deterrence mechanisms and created a database of sustained allegations of misconduct to prevent officers with problematic histories from moving between departments undetected.

What Police Reforms Do Americans Actually Support?

Public opinion research reveals broad support for specific reform measures, even as overall confidence in police has rebounded in recent years.

Bipartisan Support for Key Reforms

• More than three out of four U.S. adults (76 percent) support strategies where police and mental health professionals respond together to certain mental health or substance use situations. This co-response model represents one of the most popular reform proposals.

• Seventy-two percent of respondents supported stronger police accountability and diversion from incarceration for individuals with behavioral health needs, indicating mainstream acceptance of alternatives to traditional enforcement.

Community Investment Over Incarceration

• Most survey respondents supported funding for community-based (69 percent) and hospital-based gun violence prevention programs (60 percent) designed to provide mentorship, conflict mediation, and social services to at-risk individuals.

Racial Differences in Reform Support

• There was much higher support for redirecting funding to social services among Black Americans and Black gun-owning Americans, who are likely among those most affected by violence. These communities, disproportionately impacted by both crime and police violence, show the strongest support for systemic alternatives to traditional policing.

How Have Police Reforms Actually Changed Policing?

Body Cameras, Training, and Transparency Initiatives

• After the 2020 racial reckoning from protests, many states saw a rise in new laws that reduced qualified immunity for officers, banned chokeholds, and required body cameras. These represent the most common legislative responses to demands for accountability.

• Changes to law enforcement policies have positively impacted public perceptions of the police by fostering greater transparency, accountability and community engagement, with reform efforts including revised restraint procedures and de-escalation training.

Measuring Reform Effectiveness

• Research examining Massachusetts' reform implementation found mixed results, with some studies showing steady increases in misconduct reports following reform passage—potentially reflecting better reporting mechanisms rather than increased misbehavior.

Why Did Police Reform Momentum Stall? Understanding the Political Shift

Increases in crime early in President Biden's term, infighting between Black Lives Matter organizations, and political stalemates in Congress all but ended the drive for dramatic policing reforms. The movement's political capital diminished as public attention shifted to economic concerns and crime anxieties.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris did not make police reform central to her presidential campaign as she sought to win over white voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan, illustrating how Democratic politicians retreated from reform advocacy amid fears of appearing "soft on crime."

Alternative Models: Reimagining Public Safety

Mental Health Crisis Response Teams

• The co-responder model, pairing mental health professionals with law enforcement, represents one widely supported alternative approach. These teams aim to de-escalate situations involving individuals experiencing psychiatric crises, reducing both arrests and violent encounters.

Community Violence Intervention Programs

• Community violence intervention programs work to prevent crime and improve public safety, though the Trump administration terminated grants from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs in April 2025, rescinding an estimated $500 million from these programs.

What About "Defund the Police"? Clarifying the Debate

The "defund the police" slogan, prominent in 2020 protests, has largely receded from mainstream political discourse, though it reflected legitimate demands to redirect public safety resources.

While declining shares give police forces positive marks for their use of force, treatment of racial groups and officer accountability, there is little support for cuts in spending on local policing, indicating that most Americans favor reform over defunding.

Qualified Immunity: The Legal Shield Protecting Officers

Qualified immunity represents one of the most contentious aspects of police accountability. This legal doctrine shields government officials, including police officers, from civil liability unless they violated "clearly established" constitutional rights.

Critics argue qualified immunity makes it nearly impossible to hold officers accountable for misconduct, as courts define "clearly established" rights so narrowly that nearly identical prior cases must exist. Reform advocates seek to eliminate or substantially limit this protection.

The Role of Police Unions in Reform Resistance

Police unions wield considerable political influence, often negotiating contracts that make disciplining officers difficult and shield personnel files from public scrutiny. Union opposition has significantly slowed reform implementation in many jurisdictions, creating conflicts between elected officials seeking accountability and labor organizations protecting member interests.

How Do Other Countries Approach Policing? International Comparisons

In 2022, U.S. law enforcement officers killed at least 1,176 people, the highest number since at least 2013. By comparison, many developed nations see single-digit police killings annually, raising questions about American policing practices, gun prevalence, and use-of-force training differences.

Countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, and Japan employ different policing models emphasizing de-escalation, community relationships, and restricted firearm access for officers, resulting in dramatically lower rates of police violence.

Recent High-Profile Cases Driving Reform Discussions

Tyre Nichols (2023)

• Tyre Nichols, a young Black father and FedEx employee, was beaten to death by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, during a traffic stop in January 2023. The case, involving five Black officers, complicated simplistic narratives about police violence while reinforcing demands for systemic reform beyond individual officer racism.

Sonya Massey (2024)

• Sonya Massey's killing in her own home after calling police for help exemplified the dangers vulnerable individuals face when seeking law enforcement assistance. Her death fueled continued advocacy for alternative crisis response systems.

What Can Individuals Do to Support Police Reform?

• Local Advocacy: Attend city council meetings, school board sessions, and public safety committee hearings where policing policies are debated and budgets allocated.

• Know Your Rights: Understanding constitutional protections during police encounters empowers individuals and communities to recognize misconduct.

• Support Accountability Organizations: Groups like Campaign Zero, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and local civil rights organizations track police violence and advocate for policy changes.

• Vote Informed: Research candidates' positions on police reform, prosecutor accountability, and criminal justice policy at all levels of government.

• Document and Report: Use smartphones to record police interactions (where legal), file complaints through proper channels, and share information with accountability organizations.

Police Reform and Technology: Body Cameras, Databases, and Surveillance

Body-worn cameras have become widespread following reform advocacy, though their effectiveness remains debated. While cameras can provide crucial evidence in misconduct cases, departments control footage access and release, and studies show mixed results on whether cameras reduce use of force.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act sought to create a national registry of police officers with histories of misconduct to prevent officers from moving between departments without scrutiny. Such databases could address the "wandering officer" problem, where terminated officers find employment elsewhere.

Economic Justice and Policing: The Hidden Costs

Police violence imposes enormous economic costs on communities, including wrongful death settlements paid by taxpayers, medical expenses for survivors, lost productivity, and reduced property values in heavily policed neighborhoods.

Fines and fees from traffic stops and minor offenses disproportionately burden low-income communities and communities of color, creating cycles of debt and incarceration that perpetuate poverty—a dynamic sometimes called "policing for profit."

The Future of Police Reform: What's Next?

Despite political headwinds, several trends suggest continued evolution in American policing:

1. Localized Progress: Even without federal legislation, cities and states continue implementing reforms based on community demands and local political conditions.

2. Data-Driven Accountability: Improved tracking of police violence, misconduct, and disparities enables evidence-based advocacy and policy-making.

3. Alternative Response Models: The success of mental health crisis teams and community violence intervention programs may gradually shift resources toward prevention and de-escalation.

4. Generational Change: Younger Americans show stronger support for police accountability measures, suggesting long-term demographic pressure for reform.

5. Technology: A Double-Edged Sword: While surveillance technology raises civil liberties concerns, ubiquitous video recording has documented misconduct that would previously go unreported.

The journey from protest to policy remains incomplete. Five years after George Floyd's murder, the momentum for police reform has died as the rise in police violence, even as violent crime declines nationwide, creates a deeply troubling trend.

Yet public opinion research shows Americans across racial and political lines support specific reforms like co-response models, accountability measures, and community investment. The challenge lies not in identifying solutions but in overcoming political resistance, institutional inertia, and competing narratives about public safety.

Racial justice in policing requires acknowledging the historical roots of American law enforcement in slave patrols and Jim Crow enforcement, understanding how these legacies manifest in contemporary disparities, and committing to sustained transformation rather than performative gestures.

The path forward demands persistence, evidence-based policy, community leadership, and recognition that genuine public safety serves all communities equally—neither over-policing marginalized neighborhoods nor under-investigating crimes against vulnerable populations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is police reform in simple terms?

• Police reform refers to changes in law enforcement policies, training, and accountability systems designed to reduce misconduct, eliminate racial bias, and improve community relationships. It includes measures like requiring body cameras, banning certain restraint techniques, creating civilian oversight boards, and establishing databases to track officer misconduct.

Q: Why do Black Americans get killed by police more often?

• Black Americans face disproportionately high rates of police violence due to multiple intersecting factors: residential segregation concentrating Black communities in heavily policed areas, implicit racial bias affecting officer decision-making, historical patterns of over-policing Black neighborhoods, and systemic factors including poverty and lack of alternative crisis response resources.

Q: Did anything change after George Floyd died?

• Some states passed reforms like banning chokeholds and requiring body cameras. However, no federal police reform legislation has passed, and survey data shows most Americans believe the increased attention to racial inequality after Floyd's death did not meaningfully improve Black lives. Police killings have actually increased since 2020, reaching a decade high in 2024.

Q: What is qualified immunity, and why does it matter?

• Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine protecting police officers from civil lawsuits unless they violated "clearly established" constitutional rights. It matters because it makes holding officers accountable for misconduct extremely difficult, as courts require near-identical precedent cases. Reformers argue eliminating qualified immunity is essential for accountability.

Q: Do most Americans support police reform?

• Yes, polling shows broad public support for specific reforms. Over 75% of Americans support co-response models pairing police with mental health professionals, 72% support stronger accountability measures, and majorities favor community investment in violence prevention. However, support for reducing police budgets remains limited.

Q: What happened to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act?

• The Act, which would ban chokeholds, end qualified immunity, and create a national misconduct registry, has been introduced multiple times in Congress but has not passed due to political divisions. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee reintroduced it in May 2024, but it remains stalled without sufficient bipartisan support.

Q: How many people do police kill in America each year?

• In 2024, U.S. law enforcement killed 1,365 people, the highest level since 2013. This occurred even as violent crime rates declined nationally, creating concern among reform advocates about the disconnect between public safety improvements and police use of deadly force.

Q: What does "defund the police" actually mean?

• "Defund the police" describes a range of proposals from modest budget reallocation to complete abolition. Most advocates use it to mean redirecting some police funding to social services, mental health crisis response, housing, and education—addressing root causes of crime rather than relying solely on enforcement. However, polling shows limited public support for reducing police budgets.

Q: Are police reforms working where they've been implemented?

• Results are mixed. Some jurisdictions report reduced use-of-force incidents and improved community relations following reforms. However, comprehensive evaluation is difficult due to inconsistent implementation, limited data collection, and relatively recent adoption. Massachusetts' reform experience shows potential for both positive changes and implementation challenges.

Q: What can I do if I experience police misconduct?

• Document the incident thoroughly, including time, location, officer names/badge numbers, and witnesses. File a complaint with the department's internal affairs division and civilian oversight board if one exists. Consult with civil rights attorneys. Share information with local accountability organizations. Consider filing complaints with state attorney general offices and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

Q: Why has police reform momentum slowed since 2020?

• Multiple factors contributed: crime increases in 2021-2022 shifted political focus toward "law and order" messaging, political gridlock in Congress prevented federal legislation, infighting among reform organizations weakened the movement, and politicians retreated from reform advocacy fearing electoral consequences. Media attention and public urgency declined even as problems persisted.

Q: Do body cameras reduce police violence?

• Research shows mixed results. Some studies find modest reductions in use of force and complaints when officers wear cameras. However, departments control footage access and release, cameras don't always capture full contexts, and officers can disable or obscure cameras. Body cameras are best viewed as one tool among many, not a comprehensive solution.

Key Takeaways: Understanding Police Reform and Racial Justice in 2025

• Police violence reached a decade high in 2024 with 1,365 people killed by law enforcement, even as violent crime rates declined nationally

• Racial disparities persist dramatically, with Black residents in some cities facing 30 times higher risk of being killed by police than white residents

• No federal police reform legislation has passed despite multiple attempts to advance the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

• Public support for specific reforms remains strong, with over 75% of Americans favoring co-response models and accountability measures

• State and local reforms vary widely, with some jurisdictions advancing accountability while others pass "pro-policing" legislation limiting oversight

• The political momentum from 2020 has stalled due to crime concerns, political divisions, and shifting public priorities

• Alternative approaches like community violence intervention show promise but face funding cuts under current federal policy

• Mental health crisis response teams represent one of the most popular reform models with bipartisan support

• Qualified immunity remains a major barrier to holding officers accountable for misconduct

• Reform effectiveness varies depending on implementation quality, political will, and community engagement levels

Fuel our creativity with a cup of coffee! ☕️❤️❤️❤️