Nov 3, 2016Sometimes I’m up 24 hours, 48 hours ‘cause of the anxiety level. I’m always wondering, “Who are these special police officers? What happened?” On top of grieving and losing my son, him being murdered — not knowing what happened — makes it harder.
↩︎ ThinkProgress
Our private cops are undertrained, barely regulated, unaccountable to the public
- students are more likely to enter the criminal justice system if their school has a police presence. Updated Dec 20, 2016 ago
- States do little to monitor private security firms. Don't get us started on Virginia.
- Through its controversial 1033 program, the Pentagon distributes military-grade weapons to campus police forces.
More cops in schools, more kids in jail
Thanks to increased funds from Obama's Justice Department (that he later regretted), there are increasing amounts of police officers in public schools—often disguised behind the benign term "school resource officers"—resulting in an even easier access point for the school-to-prison pipeline.
Indeed, analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data shows students are more likely to enter the criminal justice system if their school has a police presence—oftentimes while still enrolled in school.
That's not to mention the at least 87 Taserings of students that have happened at American public schools since September 2011.
When your "police officer" is untrained, unregulated, and possibly unwell
Across the country, private police are chronically undertrained and inadequately regulated. It doesn't help that the requirements to become an armed private security guard are lax in many states. Just four states require mental health evaluations. Few conduct any kind of investigation into shootings by security guards or conduct comprehensive background checks. None meet training standards set by the industry's own trade organization.
Virginia's special police, or "Special Conservators of the Peace," are private citizens who can apply to a judge for the ability to arrest people, carry a gun, direct traffic, and otherwise present themselves as police officers. There are around 750 in the state. Inevitably, there are multiple reports of them carrying out false arrests.
Just in case the kids decide to plant mines
Through its controversial 1033 program, the Department of Defense distributes military-grade weapons and technology to local police forces.
Among those are campus police. Records obtained by MuckRock show that the Pentagon has given thermal imaging equipment to Yale University, and passed along armored trucks to four colleges in Florida, Maryland, Texas, and Washingon. Ohio State University got a mine-resistent "ambush protected" vehicle.
Not to be outdone, the Department of Homeland Security has been training campus police officers in paramilitary-style policing since 2007.
The University of Chicago's private armed force is the primary police for some 65,000 Chicagoans
As municipal law enforcement agencies face more scrutiny, their private supplements—whether they be "special police" or campus police—are increasingly looking and acting their roles in the police industrial complex.
For instance, the University of Chicago's armed private police force, one of the largest campus police departments in the country, is notorious for using force to impose the University's "wall around Hyde Park"—the neighborhood containing much of the University's campus, student body, and faculty. Its role as an agent of the University reguates the behavior of not only those affiliated with the University but also the residents of the largely black surrounding neighborhoods.
The boundaries of its jurisdiction have extended far beyond the boundaries of campus, to a point where the core campus represents a minority of the total jurisdiction. As such, it is the primary police force for some 65,000 Chicagoans, most of whom have nothing to do with the University of Chicago.
Since the UofC is a private institution, its police force does not respond to Freedom of Information Act requests, though the area's state representative has filed legislation that would require it to.
Campus police hassle, profile, bodyslam, and Taser people
Of course, the University of Chicago Police Department is not the only one that commits abuses while being largely unaccountable to the public.
In 2014, a black Arizona State University professor was bodyslammed by an armed campus police officer for allegedly not showing him identification while being questioned for jaywalking. (The officer later resigned.)
A black UCLA employee wearing his employee identification was arrested by campus police for allegedly not showing identification (sensing a pattern?), months after the school had settled a lawsuit—for $500,000—about campus police racially profiling black drivers.
The University of Cincinnati paid the family of Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man killed by a campus police officer during a traffic stop, nearly $5 million. (The officer was indicted by a grand jury and is currently on trial.)
And let's not forget the infamous, pre-YouTube "don't tase me, bro!" viral video of a student being Tasered by a University of Florida armed cop for speaking for too long during a campus town hall with John Kerry.
The Editors' Longreads Picks
- An excellent essay on poverty and writing by Starr Davis. Updated May 31, 2022
- Novelist Héctor Tobar tries to understand the 1992 Los Angeles riots through the experiences of a single high school.
- Steven Johnson with a long assessment of the current state of A.I. and language. (The illusion has gotten very good.)
Welcome to The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2017 edition.
- Our championship match is decided in the Tournament of Books, with news of a Rooster surprise debuting this summer. Updated Mar 31, 2017
- In Thursday's action, Reyhan Harmanci sets up a colossal final.
- The Zombie round opens with Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald reading The Nix and The Underground Railroad.
Все ваши Белый дом принадлежит нам.
- "Will Putin expose the failings of American democracy or will he inadvertently expose the strength of American democracy?" Updated Mar 3, 2017
- Wilbur Ross just wanted to make some money in ethically gray areas (that should've prevented him from taking office).
- Jeff Sessions's spokeswoman can't help but continue to lie.
The oceans are under assault, and not just from the White House and friends.
- Trump's assault on the environment begins with American headwaters. Updated Mar 1, 2017
- Don't just blame the oil companies for destroying the oceans—blame sushi restaurants.
- Nothing escapes the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. Not light, not nutrients, not pollutants.