The following information has been directly sourced from Fair and Just prosecution's statement regarding their new Blueprint for Police Accountability and Reform which can be read on their website here or to download as a PDF here.

The recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are among many horrifying episodes of police brutality and excessive force that have long targeted and devastated Black, Indigenous, and other communities of colour across the nation. These incidents – and persistent problems with police misconduct – lay bare the unbroken link between slavery and modern racially biased policing and elevate the urgent moral imperative for a reset of the justice system. Structural reform is necessary to promote a justice system that lives up to its name. 

Their new vision for policing includes demilitarising policing; ensuring accountability; promoting transparency; use of force and protecting human life; and racial justice.

To continue reading this statement click here. 

Janine Ewen is a Co-convenor of GLEPHA's Gender and Law Enforcement Special Interest Group.

The following information has been sourced directly from the blog post which can be read in full here.

The uncertainties surrounding Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent oil price collapse have merged to create a truly perfect storm for the North East of Scotland. Once again, history repeats itself in a region where a heavy reliance on the oil and gas sector means that there are profound consequences which follow when crisis hits: places such as Aberdeen have not fully recovered from the last crash six years ago. Now, with the economic turmoil of lockdown, individuals, families and local businesses are facing an even greater struggle for survival. The unmet basic needs in Aberdeen are such that more than seventy local organisations are currently working to address the scale of food poverty here. These harrowing, painful realities are in stark contrast with Aberdeen’s reputation of “the oil rich capital of Europe.”

The inequalities, deprivations and stress experienced by residents on a daily basis only exacerbate other struggles that the city faces, like its struggle with drug use and the drug trade. Drug issues in Aberdeen are deeply rooted in the area’s broader economic and social struggles. Crises such as COVID-19 do not make these issues disappear: if anything, they amplify them. Government responses to the issue need to take account of its complex drivers, if they are to be effective. The police will undoubtedly need to play a role in this response, but we must be careful not to criminally punish those who need our help and support. Issues of intimidation and addiction play a key role in sustaining the drug trade in Aberdeen, factors that are made worse, not better, by punitive state responses. As we tackle the COVID-19 crisis it is more important than ever that we find sustainable community-based approaches for tackling the root problems of our drug issues.

To continue reading this article click here.

The following information has been directly sourced from this article published on The Washington Post.

When I was health commissioner of Baltimore, I used to bemoan the fact that the entire amount the city allocated to public health was less than what it spent on overtime for police officers, yet my budget was cut year after year. If the “defund the police” movement can change that dynamic, I’d be all for it — but I would change the terminology. I’d frame it as reimagining public safety through public health partnerships.

Successful models exist for taking a public health approach to violence prevention. My health department oversaw a program called Safe Streets that hired individuals from the communities they serve to work as conflict mediators. Many were ex-offenders. In 2017, these outreach workers stopped more than 1,000 conflicts, 4 out of 5 of which were deemed likely or very likely to result in gun violence. More than two dozen other U.S. cities use a similar public health approach as part of a national effort called Cure Violence.

Other public health programs, across the country, have proved effective at reducing crime. Several studies have found that addiction treatment decreases robberies and thefts; for every dollar spent on drug treatment, as many as three are saved in crime reduction. Longer-term approaches include investing in early-childhood education; preventing lead poisoning; and providing food, housing and recreational outlets. All work to increase opportunity and decrease the hopelessness that later contributes to criminal activity.

Click here to continue reading the article.

PTACC (Police, Treatment and Community Collaborative) have released a statement on the killing of George Floyd. This statement can be read in full on their website here, or as a PDF here.

The following information has been directly sourced from the statement.

As a core value in doing our shared work of deflection, PTACC advocates for equity, diversity, and inclusion in deflection. In the People deflected we can see ourselves, friends, and families. So we act with humility and humanity in what I call the “Golden Three of Right Action”: a sense of urgency, a sense of purpose, and a sense of passion. This is the foundation of who we are at PTACC, our field of deflection, and our shared work together as Partners in Collaboration. In this way, the practice of deflection sets an example for what can be, indeed what we each can be-come when Police, Treatment, and Community come together.

Still, I write to you now because so tragically, and so sadly, and so disgustingly yet again an African-American neighbor of ours living in our national Community (E Pluribus Unum) has been killed by a police officer. This all happened in broad daylight, while being filmed, with the police officer being told by a multitude of Community standing just a few yards away that he was killing a man and yet the police officer ignored their pleas. This all happened, too, while our neighbor from our Community, George Floyd – an African-American man, an American citizen with the same legal rights that you and I have, laid face down on the street, already handcuffed, with two police officers on him, another walking around him, and a fourth police officer with his knee on his neck, used what energy he had left to say, “I can’t breathe,” and then to beg and plead for his life: “Please, please, please…” while also calling for his mother. Mr. Floyd’s pleas, coming from just a few feet, not yards, away were ignored by the police officer as well as the other three police officers present. Mr. Floyd lay dead, killed by the actions of one officer and the inaction of three other officers.

The statement is available to be read in full here.

This information has been directly sourced from the article by John Kleinig posted on the Gotham Philosophical Society and is available to be read in full here.

In a recent Guardian op-ed, Brooklyn College’s Alex Vitale repeats his long-term frustration with police, which culminated in his 2017 book, The End of Policing: police should be defunded, not reformed.

In a number of respects, his exasperation is understandable. As he points out, the Minneapolis Police Department (whose officers killed George Floyd) not only has a history of discriminatory treatment, but in recent years it has also sponsored many initiatives to improve the ethical quality of its policing. To no avail, Vitale claims. That is a bit quick, though I am sympathetic to his exasperation. Maybe a department of 800 would be even worse than it is without the training it received and the actions of the four officers in question even more characteristic of its style (not that its record in recent years has been encouraging. And partly because of the uniform, we are inclined to generalize over police in a way that we do not do with accountants or medical doctors. The larger problem of course is that there have been horrible cases elsewhere, and we have a poor history of holding police accountable, especially when white officers have killed or otherwise mistreated people of color.

To continue reading the full article, visit the website here.

This information has been directly sourced from The Centre for HIV Law and Policy's news release which can be read in full here. 

A set of pathways have been released to assist criminal justice professionals in incorperating public health principles into their response to COVID-19.

The proposed principles released today identify some effective responses to COVID-19 as examples that can be expanded and even improved. Drawing from these examples, the guidelines recommend incorporating a public health perspective into the criminal justice system’s responses to COVID-19, and in more general and sustained ways, in order to protect those who are incarcerated, staff that work in correctional facilities, and their communities.

The principles make five specific recommendations: 1) releasing individuals based on set criteria and public health recommendations; 2) limiting arrests that result in new admissions; 3) addressing violations of COVID-19-related directives and orders through public health departments rather than the criminal system; 4) developing alternatives to incarceration or re-entry that integrate public health priorities; and 5) building and maintaining connections among public health organizations, researchers, and criminal justice stakeholders.

To find out more regarding these principles, read the full article which is available here.

Statement from the Board of Directors, Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association about the tragic murder of George Floyd

The Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association stands against the driving causes of vulnerability in society, especially racism and gender inequality. These social iniquities reach into policing and public health practice as into all aspects of social life; GLEPHA’s core mission is to bring all the sectors together to increase understanding of racism and inequalities, and eradicate inequitable treatment of the vulnerable in all societies.

GLEPHA recognises that policing is a key institution in a democratic, civil society, deriving its mandate and authority from the public whom it serves and protects; with this mandate, police must act in the best interests of all members of the whole community at all times. While the majority of interactions between the police and the public are resolved professionally, there are chilling examples of systematic and individual abuses, the most recent being the tragic murder of George Floyd in the USA. GLPEHA in the strongest terms condemns racism in society and in policing, and its expression in brutality and abrogation of human and civil rights.

The underlying societal issues affecting vulnerable, underprivileged and marginalised people are deep-rooted and generational. The task to repair these issues is hugely challenging, and it may take generations to repair. Most importantly, it requires decisive action by committed professionals and compassionate leaders at all levels. Law enforcement and public health sectors can both provide leadership to address vulnerability and inequity, and can more effectively do so when they work collaboratively and with the communities they serve. 

GLEPHA supports police practices that treat all people with respect, dignity and empathy, and efforts toward betterment of the whole of society, inclusive of all members, however stigmatised and marginalised, at local and global levels.  Procedural fairness in all dealings with individuals and groups is fundamental, deriving from respect and compassion to all members of society. This is what the public rightfully expect and deserve, in exchange for their mandate to police.    

Board of Directors & Fellows

President: Professor Nick Crofts                    Vice President: Richard Bent

Ian de Terte                             Stan Gilmour                           Patricia Griffin         

Inga Heyman                           Melissa Jardine                       Jennifer Wood           

Auke van Dijk                          Bill Stronach                            Jamie Clover  

Brandon del Pozo

Link to statement in PDF

This information has been directly sourced from the opinion piece posted in The New York Times by Brandon del Pozo and can be read in full here.

On Friday night, I watched television footage of police cars burning in Brooklyn and read the news that protesters tried to storm the 88th Precinct station house. An officer I knew was struck in the head with a brick and ended up in surgery. The department is now working under an emergency schedule first used during civil unrest in the fall of 1969.

I called up my friends on the force. They were shaken; they sensed a hostility that was beyond anything they had felt before. It seemed woven into the city itself. What had happened to George Floyd was a brutal crime, and the officer’s action supported the murder charge, but New York police were powerless to disentangle themselves from the wider web of anger toward their profession.

This has been a long time coming, and there have been signs. At a speech to the police on Long Island in 2017, President Trump made a joke about banging an arrested person’s head against a police car, and the audience of officers laughed approvingly. When he spoke at an annual conference of police chiefs in Orlando, Fla., in 2018, Mr. Trump was greeted with a standing ovation. He shut down the Justice Department’s efforts to reform police departments with consent decrees.

He has supported our police openly and uncritically, but by accepting this support, police have aligned themselves with the president’s flagrant racism and callous disregard for the nation’s people of color. This alliance has made them a surrogate for the fury so many Americans feel toward the White House and portrays them as the president’s accomplices.

Then there is the inertia. When it comes to reform, America’s police leaders have long been content to kick the can down the road because making real change is so hard. In most cities, chiefs of police are hired for their ability to communicate with the public, to reassure people and to know what to say to skeptics. These are important skills, but they do not equal an ability to reach deep into an organization that has an entrenched culture and a reactionary union, and bend it toward modernity.

This article is available to be read in full on The New York Times website which can be viewed here.

Fair and Just Prosecution are institutional members of the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association. The following information is available on their website.

In this joint statement, 40 elected prosecutors condemn the despicable and tragic murder of George Floyd, call for the perpetrators to be held accountable, and demand that all prosecutors and law enforcement leaders do more to address racially-biased policing and police brutality. The joint statement enumerates several key reforms, including increased accountability and oversight of law enforcement officers, national databases and changes that enhance the ability to identify and discharge problematic officers, increased transparency by both law enforcement and prosecutors, changes to use of force policies, and fundamental reimagining of the justice system to prioritize fairness, equity, and community wellbeing. For more, read the full statement.

Visit Fair and Just Prosecution's website here to view more releases.

By Tasneem Ur Rehman

@AllogeneousJano

COVID-19 and health facilities for police in Pakistan

Health is a fundamental element in the success of a nation with social, economic, biological and environmental determinants affecting the health of every society. Police face numerous challenges that impact their health while serving as front-liners to protect others and the nation. The work of police officers differs from some occupations because they have direct contact with the public at every level and are deployed in both open and closed spaces. Police officers are busy in ensuring public safety, investigating cases, arresting criminals, maintaining law and order situations and providing or arranging security. Following outbreaks of COVID-19, police are now enforcing lockdown laws and implementing social distancing protocols. Due to restricted resources and increasing workload, police officers face risks associated with mental and physical health. They are also exposed and vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak by continuous contact with the public. 

In most countries, policing remains a male-dominated occupation. Physical health determines the mobility and activities of an individual in day to day life. The health of police is a key factor in their ability to work. The fatality rate among COVID-19 sufferers is affecting men disproportionately. In Pakistan, police even face work-related diseases which can be undiagnosed or incorrectly reported. Police officers, especially men, face health issues and suffer from diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis, chest infection, typhoid fever, food poisoning, malaria, dengue fever, blood pressure, depression, stroke, mental health and trauma, allergy and cancer diseases which place them at high risk. Police have a tough and stressful job with them being required to potentially work day and night with no rests. This intensive workload has a major impact on police and such long duties negatively affect their mental and physical health. In Pakistan, there is a lack of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) in the time of the COVID-19 crisis. Providing PPE is one of the most important steps for protecting police personnel.

In Pakistan, only a small proportion of the police have access to occupational health and medical services. According to statistics, there are 490,267 police officers both uniformed and non-uniformed in Pakistan (excluding National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) and Railways Police). Police departments must also confront the challenges associated with the impact of poor officer health and mental well-being. Amid the current pandemic, thousands of police officers are infected and have died of COVID-19 worldwide. According to statistics from different countries, as reported in the United States of America (USA), 5,361 police officers in the New York Police Department (NYPD) have tested positive for coronavirus with 41 police officers having lost their lives. In the Republic of Peru, 3,873 police personnel are infected with the virus and 46 police officers have passed away. In Bangladesh, more than 1500 police officers have tested positive and in India over 1300 police officers. In South Africa, 370 police personnel are infected of COVID-19 with 2 fatalities of police officers. In Pakistan, over 740 police officers have contracted COVID-19 and 10 police officers have died in the line of duty after getting infected. Many officers in Pakistan who were placed in quarantine have recovered from the virus. This reveals a critical situation around the world in terms of police personnel contracting the virus.

In Pakistan, 12 Police hospitals are known for providing services to police personnel. The provincial breakdown of police hospitals includes 3 in Sindh for 144,000 police personnel, 4 in Punjab for 169,127 police personnel and 5 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for 120,000 police personnel. Unfortunately, there is no police hospital constructed for 30,837 police personnel in Balochistan, 8,323 police personnel in Azad Kashmir and 5,980 police personnel in Gilgit Baltistan (GB). Moreover, the Interior Ministry granted permission to construct a major hospital for 12,000 police personnel in Islamabad but has not yet been constructed. Police officers do not have access to proper health facilities and there is an absence of such basic facilities for police nationwide. Moreover, there is no connection with private hospitals at the provincial or regional level in all provinces. There is no separate major public or private hospital for police and their families to offer better health facilities. Recently, a police officer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police in Pakistan died of illness. He was stationed at Peshawar and died due to a lack of access to adequate healthcare and the release of funding was too late. Similarly, another police officer who was stationed in Abbottabad district of KP, lost his battle against cancer. Such diseases are common in police personnel in Pakistan and health facilities need improvement.

Interestingly in Australia, police are responsible for providing health services to police personnel across the country with respect to work-related injury or illness. Likewise in Peru, ESSALUD is a public entity of Social Health Security which provides 30% health insurance/services to the population as well as the Peru National Police (PNP). In Paraguay, the National Health Council has one representative from the Police and the National Health System provides health facilities to police and their families across the country.

In this regard, police leadership in Pakistan should come forward and stand with police personnel in these difficult times. Police leaders should demand that government representatives provide adequate healthcare facilities for police who serve the nation and construct police hospitals on behalf of police departments. Police departments must also conduct regular health reviews and checks up of police personnel for ensuring a healthy and efficient police workforce. COVID-19 is continuously posing health risks to police officers who are trying their best to deliver services 24/7. The Government must take necessary steps for ensuring the safety of police personnel. The Federal and provincial governments should upgrade existing police hospitals and build more hospitals at federal, provincial, and regional levels for police with better health services. Police are risking their lives and sacrifices of police heroes are made to keep people of our country safe. May Allah give all police officers sound health Ameen! Salam Police

Author Details: Tasneem Ur Rehman works voluntarily on Police Reforms in Pakistan and is a member of the Pakistan Police Reforms Think Tank (Internet Based). He can be reached at @AllogeneousJano on Twitter.