In push for police reform, small steps no longer enough
When it comes to policing and violence, Ronal Serpas has what might seem like an odd suggestion: Wind the clock back 50 years.
As heated as the public debate around policing is today, years of social unrest had the United States in a similar place in the 1960s. In response, President Lyndon Johnson set up a commission to explore the problems and propose solutions.
His Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, however, looked far beyond policing. It not only resulted in the 911 system and the first-ever crime victimization survey, but it also examined police, prosecution, defense, the courts, and corrections.
Looking at today, “I hoped this would be a bellwether time, when we sat down and had a long think about what we should do as a country,” says Mr. Serpas, a former police chief in New Orleans and Nashville
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