A response to policing in nyc
In answer to the prompt on the job description here, I was specifically drawn to the NYCLU project, because I have been really curious about policing in our city and across the country. I’ve been thinking a lot about the police force as an organization, because it seems that there are not a particularly excellent employer. My cousin is in her first year as an officer in St. Louis, Missouri, and is routinely given the worst routes, a meager salary, almost no time off, and very little support or encouragement from her superiors. From my experience working at various design studios in New York, this seems like a recipe for low retention and frustrated employees, because it does not honor them or give them space to flourish and develop as whole people. I have also been struck by recent explorations into policing by podcasts like the Serial podcast, This American Life episodes, and Crimetown. I recently wrote to Adam Grant to ask if he would feature Police Forces on his podcast Work/Life, because I was so curious about how their organizations are run and if any healthy examples of policing exist anywhere in the country or the world.
My approach to this project would be spurned by this interest, and would be informed by research into the history of policing in New York City along with the specific rights due to those being investigated. I would try to spend at least one day in a local courthouse to hear how these groups are interacting within our legal system, and ideally become acquainted with the rhythm of this life. Specifically, I would try to take note of every interaction that is surprising or potentially new to someone not familiar with prosecution, and ruminate on the best ways to communicate those nuances. During this period, it is important to me that I keep a regular journal to look back on later in the research period as a touch point of what it was like when I knew a lot less.
Once the initial research was conducted, I would try to identify the groups of people who provide the most well-rounded picture of policing as it currently stands as well as the people with ideas on how to fix things. At the time of writing this, I don’t yet know who those groups are, but I would use various strategies to try to find them:
Data from NYPD, standardized to identify neighborhoods with the highest, median, and lowest metrics for police interaction (either through emergency complaints,
Twitter and other Social Media platforms, to see who is already engaging in this dialogue, either in helpful or “unhelpful” ways and then reaching out to these people to see if they would be interested in participating
Specific calls to targeted groups through local and broader efforts. These would range from grassroots efforts including flyers placed in local gathering areas like churches, schools, and cafés– to instagram and influencer engagement - where groups could be targeted though online means.
The culmination would be to some kind of direct interaction with police to encourage dialogue. I have this dream in my head that it would be awesome if you could get the city to agree to have civilians from these research groups go on multiple ride-alongs and then record their conversations before, during, and after. This approach seems robust, because it gives people something to do and also re-contextualized the conversation so that solutions can be realistic and relevant to the police force.
I would also keep in mind that talk-back sessions are not always well received in communities. I think that is because their purpose is often ill-defined. In each conversation I had with potential research subjects I would try to answer the following questions before engaging them in conversation:
Why am I talking to this person?
What does the ideal conversation with this person sound like to me?
What is the worst-case scenario for me in this conversation?
What biases do I have about this person? Are these based on their profession? Their skin color? Their mannerisms?
All of these would be done to try to make myself and other researchers aware of our own confirmation bias, and get passed the standard questions and research. I would love to see how we could be surprised by what unexpected things come to light and what new ideas we’re able to uncover. Ideally this research would promote conversation and provide data and comprehensive content to meet the project aims.