Presented on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 03:00P

One of the wake-up calls of the January 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol was the revelation that the extremists included many off-duty law enforcement officers, possibly assisted by on-duty personnel. This scenario is now forcing police chiefs, sheriffs, and others nationwide to reassess and escalate their efforts to identify and root out what has long been denied as a problem within the police profession.

What measures must be taken to root out staff with ties to white supremacist and far-right groups? What are the procedures and policies that should be put in place to encourage officers to speak out when they observe or know about another’s involvement? Are the unions a forum for assisting or a source of hindrance to officer accountability? Who should be tasked to root out those who may not actually be a part of the extremist groups but secretly subscribe to their ideologies? And what role must Black and Brown law enforcement officers play in efforts to curtail what now appears to be a troubling pattern.