Presented on Friday, October 01, 2021 at 09:00A

The shocking death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis, MN police officer that was captured on video horrified the American public, sparked months of protests, and brought about a new and concerned urgency to the longstanding anger over police violence towards Black men and women in the United States. And while Derek Chauvin was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter, the verdict did absolutely nothing to change the dynamics of racial bias that was a factor in Floyd’s death. Thus, police reform remains a top priority, with advocates seeking to make it easier for people to sue police officers in civil courts, ban choke holds, require body-worn and dashboard mounted cameras and enhanced training on de-escalation techniques.

But are these changes enough? If not, what else is needed? What would effective police reform look like? Are law enforcement agencies prepared to embrace reform? And what can be done to restore the trust between police departments and the communities that they serve, particularly communities of color.