For Immediate Release: December 2, 2016
Women of color are affected by unlawful police behavior at alarmingly high rates. We must strive for communities free of bias and hold law enforcement agencies accountable.
Solutions:
– Create greater accountability for law enforcement agencies
– Encourage greater community oversight over policing practices
– Creating and disseminating “right to know” best practices for policing manuals
– Require all law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding to implement training on implicit bias, cultural competency, and de-escalation strategies for interactions with women of color, women with disabilities, LGBTQ people, people with physical and mental health disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and people engaged in sex work. Officers should be held accountable for failure to comply with standards of conduct meant to protect the lives and safety of women.
– Engage in a national effort to hire more women, people of color, and LGBTQ police officers in order to change toxic policing cultures.
– Improve law enforcement response to intimate partner violence
– Eradicate police sexual misconduct and police sexual assault