Use of force, bodycams, and conservative arguments for justice reform

Recording some links here for my own purposes, but perhaps some Grits readers will find them useful, too:

Conservative arguments for justice reform

Our pal Vikrant Reddy, of the Koch Institute via the Texas Public Policy Foundation, has been busy recently proselytizing criminal-justice reform as a conservative cause. Check out:

• Conservative Reform Network: A New Agenda for Criminal Justice
• National Review: Criminal Justice: The Real Reasons for Reform
• US Civil Rights Commission testimony: Municipal Policing and Courts: A Search for Justice or a Quest for Revenue?

Bodycam policy resources
See a good resource page on body camera policies including links to local policies in numerous jurisdictions.  As the Austin City Council's Public Safety Committee prepares to consider APD's policy on Monday, check out this site from OpenAustin.org arguing for maximum transparency. There's an excellent resource list on that site, too, if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

Debating/reforming police use of force
Posting links to a few items on police use of force and disciplinary issues so I can find them to read later: The Police Executive Research Forum's 30 "Guiding Principles on Use of Force," released earlier this year, deserves more attention from reformers who have not been as quick to defend the suggestions as opponents have been to attack them. Beyond defense, there's an immediate need to build on that work. So far, nobody has compared them to local policies to find places to suggest improvements, but that work needs to be done. (Black Lives Matter's Campaign Zero has performed a more limited, independent analysis of some cities' use of force policies, including three in Texas.) In Congress, a suggestion has arisen to deny grants to law enforcement agencies which fail to adopt best practices regarding use of force. Meanwhile, Grits hasn't yet had time to read this detailed analysis of use of force at the NYPD, published last fall, but wanted to flag the link for future reference. For a sense of how police-union lawyers view these use of force issues, check out this cover story titled, "Deadly Force: The rights of suspects and police officers," from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association's house magazine last year. (For a more balanced view of limits on police use of deadly force, see this 2008 article from law prof Rachel Harmon.) Finally, this is as good a place as any to mention that nine Texas advocacy groups have petitioned the governor to weigh in on use of force by law enforcement in schools.