Law Commons^™

Federal (De)Funding Of Local Police, Stephen Rushin, Roger Mikalski

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Across the political spectrum, politicians, commentators, and activists frequently invoke federal funding as a lever to induce changes in local police behavior. But can federal funding function as an effective policy lever at the local level? Is federal funding or the threat of defunding a sufficiently strong tool to effectuate deeply contentious policy goals over local opposition?

This Essay conducts an empirical examination of federal funding for local and state police agencies in the United States. It finds that the federal government remains a relatively minor contributor to local police budgets. We find that federal funding only reaches a minority …

Federal (De)Funding Of Local Police, Roger Michalski, Stephen Rushin

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Across the political spectrum, politicians, commentators, and activists frequently invoke federal funding as a lever to induce changes in local police behavior. But can federal funding function as an effective policy lever at the local level? Is federal funding or the threat of defunding a sufficiently strong tool to effectuate deeply contentious policy goals over local opposition?

This Essay conducts an empirical examination of federal funding for local and state police agencies in the United States. It finds that the federal government remains a relatively minor contributor to local police budgets. We find that federal funding only reaches a minority …

Masculinity In Policing: The Need To Recruit More Women In American Police Departments Fall 2020 Symposium: Addressing The Crisis In Policing Today: Race, Masculinity, And Police Use Of Force In America, Stephen Rushin

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article, written as part of The George Washington Law Review Symposium on “Addressing the Crisis in Policing Today,” examines how American police departments can improve their recruitment and retention of women. Women currently make up a mere 13% of all police officers in the United States. This number has remained frustratingly low and stagnant for years.

This Article begins by considering the potentially harmful consequences of the underrepresentation of women in American policing. Some commentators have recently argued that the hiring of more women may, by itself, help transform policing. To evaluate this hypothesis, the first part of this …

Interrogation Parity, Stephen Rushin, Kate Levine

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article addresses the special interrogation protections afforded exclusively to the police when they are questioned about misconduct. In approximately twenty states, police officers suspected of misconduct are shielded by statutory Law Enforcement Officer Bills of Rights. These statutes frequently limit the tactics investigators can use during interrogations of police officers. Many of these provisions limit the manner and length of questioning, ban the use of threats or promises, require the recording of interrogations, and guarantee officers a reprieve from questioning to tend to personal necessities. These protections, which are available to police but not to ordinary criminal suspects, create …

De-Policing, Stephen Rushin, Griffin Sims Edwards

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Critics have long claimed that when the law regulates police behavior it inadvertently reduces officer aggressiveness, thereby increasing crime. This hypothesis has taken on new significance in recent years as prominent politicians and law enforcement leaders have argued that increased oversight of police officers in the wake of the events in Ferguson, Missouri has led to an increase in national crime rates. Using a panel of American law enforcement agencies and difference-in-difference regression analyses, this Article tests whether the introduction of public scrutiny or external regulation is associated with changes in crime rates. To do this, this Article relies on …

From Selma To Ferguson: The Voting Rights Act As A Blueprint For Police Reform, Stephen Rushin

Faculty Publications & Other Works

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 revolutionized access to the voting booth. Rather than responding to claims of voter suppression through litigation against individual states or localities, the Voting Rights Act introduced a coverage formula that preemptively regulated a large number of localities across the country. In doing so, the Voting Rights Act replaced reactive, piecemeal litigation with a proactive structure of continual federal oversight. As the most successful civil rights law in the nation's history, the Voting Rights Act provides a blueprint for responding to one of the most pressing civil rights problems the country faces today: police misconduct. …