Policing, Civil Rights and Social Change

This course covers policing in the United States as it intersects with constitutional rights and racial justice. Topics include studying the history of police institutions, from slave patrols to big city police departments; the constitutional framework for policing powers, including police use of force and search and seizure powers; various theories and tactics of policing, such as Broken Windows policing and other proactive policing strategies; policing practices in the context of schools, drug enforcement and immigration enforcement; and various models of police accountability and the challenges they face.