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The Reimagining Policing Pledge was issued at the municipal level because city leaders like mayors are uniquely positioned to address public health, safety, and policing policy. Residents should also be able to hold these leaders accountable for their experiences with local law enforcement and other institutions.
For the first several months of the pledge, the MBK Alliance collected reports from city leaders about their progress. We tracked city progress in the following four areas. Click to jump to each sector or just continue scrolling.
Engaging Residents
City leaders are reaching out to hear residents’ concerns and create new opportunities to engage directly with the community.
Reviewing and Updating Use of Force Policy
Cities initiate reviews of the use of force policies, as well as other relevant public safety policies.
Creating New Programs
Cities are reducing the footprint of policing by creating new roles within their public safety infrastructure.
Reforming Budgets
Cities are changing how they fund and create public safety.
Leaders and organizers can look to these activities for next steps in reimagining policing and public safety. The MBK Alliance continues to collect updates and best practices from cities in the Reimagining Policing Pledge network.
Reviewing and Updating Use-of-Force Policies
The second phase of the Reimagining Policing Pledge, reviewing use-of-force policy, builds on the foundation of community engagement. Inspired by public outcry and communities’ feedback, cities are reframing use of force by finally classifying actions like intentionally pointing firearms as force. West Des Moines, IA, banned chokeholds outside of deadly force situations and is requiring supervisors to respond to use-of-force incidents as well as complaints. Cities like Richmond, VA; Los Angeles and Culver City, CA; and Orlando, FL, are reevaluating policies on pressure on the neck or head, neck restraints, chokeholds, and shooting at moving vehicles. Cities, like Culver City, CA, are also using the pledge as an opportunity to update their processes for reviewing use-of-force policy. Cities like Easthampton, MA; and Highland Park, NJ, are focusing on increased transparency and posting use-of-force data on their websites. Policy changes have extended into the criminal justice system as well. For example, in Columbus, OH, the mayor’s office issued an executive order to require an independent investigation of all uses of fatal force and deaths in police custody by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
In West Des Moines, IA, a Mayor’s Pledge Task Force began meeting weekly with the Des Moines Police Department to review training, hiring, and use-of-force policy.
In June, 2020, the Richmond, VA police department and mayor’s office updated the language of their existing ban on chokeholds to clarify that contact with and pressure on the head and neck were potentially deadly techniques. On June 8, 2020 the Los Angeles Police Department banned officers from using carotid restraints (Los Angeles Times). Culver City, CA, and Orlando, FL, both moved to prohibit no-knock warrants and ban chokeholds and neck restraints.
Culver City, CA, approved a process to review use-of-force policy that includes administrative review, input from the city’s Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) team, public listening sessions, public comments, and discussion of community feedback.
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