Early history[edit]

Early efforts at police reform often involved external commissions, such as the Wickersham
Commission, that spelled out reforms but left to the police to implement them, often with limited
success.[1]

1960s: the Johnson Administration and the Warren

Court[edit]
In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson created the President's Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Justice. The Commission's final report, issued in 1967,[2]has been described as
"the most comprehensive evaluation of crime and crime control in the United States at the time". [3] It
laid out reorganization plans for police departments[4]and suggested a range of reforms.[5] Several of
the Commission's findings related to the poor treatment of juvenile offenders. [6]
A series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions under the Warren Court led to important changes in
policing, with respect to civil rights and constitutional law. Mapp v. Ohio in 1961 andMiranda v.
Arizona in 1966 were two highly influential court decisions.[7] Mapp v. Ohio found that evidence
obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against "unreasonable searches and
seizures" may not be used in criminal prosecutions. Miranda v. Arizona required that criminal
suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their Fifth
Amendment right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police. These decisions began to
set national standards for policing.[8]

1970s and 1980s[edit]

Special commissions, such as the Knapp Commission in New York City during the 1970s, have been
used to bring about changes in law enforcement agencies.[9] Civilian review boards (permanent
external oversight agencies) have also been used as a means for improving police accountability.
Civilian review boards tend to focus on individual complaints, rather than broader organizational
issues that may result in long-term improvements.[10]

1990 to 2010[edit]
The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act authorized the United States Department
of Justice's Civil Rights Division to bring civil ("pattern or practice") suits against local law
enforcement agencies, to reign in abuses and hold them accountable. [11] As a result, numerous
departments have entered into consent decrees or memoranda of understanding, requiring them to
make organizational reforms.[12] This approach shifts focus from individual officers to placing focus on
police organizations.

2010 to present[edit]
Some law enforcement agencies in the United States in the early 2000s and 2010s began to
emphasize de-escalation as a method of conflict resolution and obtaining voluntary compliance.[13]
[14]

There are also emphases on community policing to build relationships and community trust in law

enforcement; the evidence-based policing approach of using of data to assist with decision-making;
and the importance of civilian oversight of police work. [15][16][17]
In the 2010s, a series of shootings of unarmed individuals by police officers correlated with calls for
police and law enforcement reform, especially regarding the diversity of police officers and the
treatment of minorities by the criminal justice system.
In the specific case of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in August 2014, an investigation
by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division concluded that, while there were not
sufficient grounds to charge the police officer who shot Brown with a criminal offense, the Ferguson
Police Department as a whole "was routinely violating the constitutional rights of its black
residents."[18][19] Members of the Congressional Black Caucus indicated their appreciation of U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder, and said that while many American police officers serve honorably, the
problems found in Ferguson such as the use of fines to generate revenue instead of promote safety
and justice, the use of excessive force, and unconstitutional practices may also be found in other
communities in the United States.[20]
President Barack Obama created the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. [21] The
commission issued a report on March 2, 2015, that made numerous recommendations. It did not call
for all officers to wear body cameras, but did call for independent prosecutors to investigate civilian
deaths in police custody or in officer-involved shootings.[22]
Sue Rahr, when she was sheriff of King County, had introduced a new policing model called
L.E.E.D. (Listen and Explain with Equity and Dignity) in 2011, which influenced her later work on the
"guardian model" of training police candidates when she became the executive director of the
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission; Obama appointed Rahr to the President's
Task Force, where the "guardian model" received support as a desirable alternative to the "warrior
model" of training officers.[23][24][25][26] Rahr said in a U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
hearing that, "When I talk about a guardian mindset... this is not a more kind and gentle way of doing
the job. It's the opposite. We have increased firearms training and defensive tactics training,
because we want to create strong, effective police officers who have the confidence that they don't
[need] to behave in an intimidating manner. When someone has confidence, that helps deescalate
as well. I think that when we were too focused on the boot camp method of training, it detracted
away from our ability to train officers to be critical thinkers... What we have tried to shift towards
is officer training, where you focus on critical thinking and confidence." [27]

A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union said that the ideas in the report of the
President's Commission "will significantly improve the relationship between law enforcement and the
communities they serve" and that "For us to see meaningful change, local authorities must first
implement data collection systems to improve transparency, use of force policies that emphasize deescalation, eradicate all forms of biased policing, and improve community engagement and oversight
to provide accountability."[28]
In response to the 2015 Baltimore protests, President Barack Obama said that "It's in [the interest of
police officers] to root out [police] who aren't doing the right thing, to hold accountable people when
they do something wrong, instead of just the closing-ranks approach that all too often we see that
ends up just feeding greater frustration and ultimately, I think, putting more police officers in danger."
Obama also said, "Unfortunately we've seen these police-related killings or deaths too often now,
and obviously everybody is starting to recognize that this is not just an isolated incident in Ferguson
or New York, but we've got some broader issues."[29]
Police leaders responded on January 29, 2016, with "Use of Force: Taking Policing to a Higher
Standard" (http://www.policeforum.org/assets/30%20guiding%20principles.pdf). According to The
New York Times, the new guideline call for police to use higher standards for use of force than those
set by the U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/nyregion/police-leaders-unveilprinciples-intended-to-shift-policing-practices-nationwide.html?_r=0). This is a defining moment for
us in policing, said Charles Ramsey, the recently-retired commissioner of the Philadelphia Police
Department, according to The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/postnation/wp/2016/01/29/police-chiefs-consider-dramatic-reforms-to-officer-tactics-training-to-preventso-many-shootings/).