The Many, Many Problems with Cops and Why Reform is Impossible Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 7/6/2020
Today we take a look at the problems with cops that aren't the obvious, racist problems. We're talking about the rules that help protect bad cops from accountability, the police unions that insist on those rules and the lack of state or national policies that would structurally disincentivize the hiring or continued employment of problem officers.
Transcript
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Race, Police, & The Pandemic - FRONTLINE - Air Date 6-2-20
Jelani Cobb describes how the relationship between black Americans and the police has become a “barometer” for race relations in the country and that explosive tensions are “overwhelmingly” in response to an issue of police use of force.
Ch. 2: The Man Who Teaches Our Cops To Kill Part 1 - Behind the Bastards - Air Date 6-1-20
Robert is joined by Jack O'Brien to discuss David Grossman, director of the Killology Research Group. More than a hundred police departments, and thousands of police officers, have taken Grossman’s courses over more than twenty years.
Ch. 3: Qualified Immunity and the myth of dangerous traffic stops - Pod Save the People - Air Date 5-26-20
DeRay, Brittany, Sam, and Clint discuss police accountability.
Ch. 4: The Man Who Teaches Our Cops To Kill Part 2 - Behind the Bastards - Air Date 6-1-20
Robert is joined by Jack O'Brien to discuss David Grossman, director of the Killology Research Group. More than a hundred police departments, and thousands of police officers, have taken Grossman’s courses over more than twenty years.
Ch. 5: Police Unions And Police Violence Part 1 - Planet Money - Air Date 6-5-20
We look at the data connecting police unions and police violence.
Ch. 6: Not Just Another Protest - It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders - Air Date 6-5-20
Sam also talks to BuzzFeed News reporter Melissa Segura on her recent reporting about police unions and what they mean for reform.
Ch. 7: Police Unions And Police Violence Part 2 - Planet Money - Air Date 6-5-20
We look at the data connecting police unions and police violence.
Ch. 8: What Science Says About Police (with John Rappaport) - Pod Save the People - Air Date 6-9-20
This week DeRay sits down with John Rappaport, a law professor and research scholar examining criminal procedures in the justice system. They discuss Rappaport's findings regarding police misconduct and the effects of police behavior on communities.
Ch. 9: American Police: 100 years of reform - Throughline - Air Date 6-4-20
Black Americans being victimized and killed by the police is an epidemic. A truth many Americans are acknowledging since the murder of George Floyd, as protests have occurred in all fifty states calling for justice on his behalf.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on the pain and sadness of being lied to by your country
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  Thannoid - Bodytonic Watermarks - Crab Shack Derailed - The Depot Cloud Line - K4 Festering - Towboat Waltz and Fury - Macrame LaBranche - Bayou Birds Sunday Lights - Onesuch Village Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent  
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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