Policing, Civil Rights and Social Change

This course covers policing in the United States as it intersects with constitutional rights and racial justice, and the rise of social justice movements seeking to transform policing in America. Topics will include studying the history of police institutions, from slave patrols and night watches to big city police departments; the constitutional framework for policing powers; various theories and tactics of policing, such as broken windows policing; and the rise of movements seeking to change police's role in society, such as the Black Lives Matter and police defund movements. Students will also meet leaders within these current movements.