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A New App Is Offering Drivers Peace of Mind During Police Stops
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and other high profile police killings, a group of developers launched TurnSignl, an app that connects drivers with attorneys during police traffic stops. The app, which is now available in Minnesota, Georgia and California, is set to roll out nationwide by the end of 2023. CEO and co-founder Jazz Hampton joined NBCLX to...
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Attorney Slams Traffic Laws That Let Kim Potter Pull Over Daunte Wright
Before Brooklyn Center, Minnesota officer Kim Potter drew her gun instead of her Taser and fatally shot Daunte Wright, she pulled him over for expired tags and an air freshener hanging from his vehicle’s mirror. Laws that let officers pull drivers over for hanging items have been criticized for years and subject to a long battle in appellate courts, says...
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Minneapolis Could Change Rules After Police Kill Black Man During No-Knock Raid
The police killing of Amir Locke in Minneapolis is drawing scrutiny to no-knock warrants, after police body camera footage showed a SWAT team entering an apartment and shooting Locke, who was under a blanket on the couch. “There isn’t much of an announcement in terms of the time between them entering the premises and then beginning to fire shots,” says...
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Video of a Florida Police Sergeant Grabbing a Fellow Officer Reignites Questions About Police Reform
A viral video showing a Florida police sergeant’s aggressive behavior toward a junior officer when she attempted to deescalate an altercation with a suspect has reignited debate over the progress of police reform. Body camera video of the November incident captured Sunrise Police Sgt. Christopher Pullease putting his hands on the throat of the officer who tried to pull him...
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Ex-Cop Says This Excessive Force Law Could Have Saved George Floyd's Life
Former Buffalo, New York police officer Cariol Horne is credited with saving a man’s life in 2006, when she intervened to stop a white officer from keeping a Black man in a chokehold during an arrest. Now she’s calling for lawmakers to pass Cariol’s Law, which would protect other cops who intervene when an officer’s use of force goes over...
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Biden Plans Executive Action on Police Reform to Revive Stalled Issue
President Joe Biden is planning to sign executive actions on police reform as early as this month, three people familiar with the plans said, as his administration seeks to unilaterally jumpstart an issue that’s a top priority for a key constituency.
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New Laws to Take Effect Across US on Abortion, Policing, Taxes
Minimum wage increases, animal protections, police accountability, cutting and increasing taxes are all part of a series of new laws taking effect across the country on Saturday, the first day of 2022.
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Cities Vowed in 2020 to Cut Police Funding — But Budgets Expanded in 2021
Some local politicians said they would cut funds allocated toward policing to boost social services. But a year later, those budgets have been restored or are even bigger
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Burlington, Vermont, Moved to Cut Its Police Force 30%. Here's What Happened Next
Almost a year and a half later, no one, it seems, is happy. Not even the councilor who proposed the resolution.
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Civil Rights Group: Disinformation Sank the Minneapolis Policing Vote
“I do think that people were on the other side because of disinformation…the other thing is, people cannot sometimes imagine something different. We are stuck with these paradigms about ‘police keep us safe'” but many Black Americans do not feel safe around the police. Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the civil rights organization The Advancement Project, unpacks how Minneapolis...
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Activists Keep Police Reform Push Despite Minneapolis Loss
Police accountability activists are vowing to keep fighting for change despite the failure of a ballot proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a reimagined public safety unit
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2020's ‘Racial Reckoning' Didn't Drastically Change Policing in Minneapolis. But There's Hope, Activists Say
This story was updated on Nov. 3, 2021, at 5:20 p.m. ET. Minneapolis residents hit the polls yesterday to vote for mayor, ultimately reelecting Democrat incumbent Jacob Frey, and to weigh in on several ballot measures, one of which would’ve replaced the city’s police department with a “Department of Public Safety.” Results of the police reform ballot measure came in…
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Minneapolis Voters Reject Replacing Police With New Agency
Minneapolis voters have rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety — an idea that arose from the May 2020 death of George Floyd
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Tool for Police Reform Rarely Used by Local Prosecutors
The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has sparked a national conversation on police reform, ranging from defunding departments to enhancing training
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Why Philly Wants to End Police Traffic Stops for Minor Offenses
Philadelphia police disproportionately pull over Black drivers for minor offenses like a broken taillight, but those stops don’t do much to reduce violent crime – a gun or drugs are found about 1% of the time. Under the Driving Equality Bill that recently passed City Council, drivers would get a ticket in the mail for those minor violations –...
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Democrats See Political Peril in Replacing Minneapolis PD
A proposal on the Minneapolis ballot about the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed has its roots in the “defund the police” movement
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Nonprofit Grants Propel Prosecutor Push on Racial Injustice
Many of the law enforcement changes enacted by states after George Floyd’s death have centered on policing tactics, not on racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
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Congressional Talks Over Police Reform Stall Without Agreement
Senate negotiators say bipartisan congressional talks on overhauling policing practices have ended without agreement
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Amid Reform Movement, Some GOP States Give Police More Power
After a year of protests over police brutality, some Republican-controlled states have ignored or blocked police-reform proposals and moved instead in the other direction
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We Need Better Records When Cops Are Fired, Says Ex-Cop
Erroll Southers used to run background checks on police officer applicants and worked in law enforcement for decades. He says there should be a registry of officers’ past firings for misconduct – a database like that can help chiefs and police departments ensure they’re hiring someone with a good record in their community.