Can Kamala Harris Adapt The Government’s Airplane-Safety Model to Stem Police Shootings?

Kamala Harris’s criminal justice plan released Monday included at least one concept that is utterly novel among Democratic primary candidates: applying to police shootings the successful government model now used to improve airline safety.

Harris proposed founding a National Police Systems Review Board, which would “collect data and review police shootings and other cases of severe misconduct, and work to issue recommendations and implement safety standards based on evidence revealed in these reviews.” Harris cites the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the independent entity that investigates airline crashes, as a model for the type of impact such an agency could have on police conduct. The NTSB, Harris’ plan notes, has “played a role in greatly reducing airplane crashes by recommending and implementing industry standards and regulations.”