Do diverse police departments use less force? She trained with cops to find out.
Samantha J. Simon spent a year immersed in police training, which she writes about in “Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence.” Professor Simon, a sociologist at the University of Arizona, took part in classroom instruction and tactical training in an unnamed Southern state. Her book explores how police academies have responded to growing public outrage over acts of police violence, particularly in communities of color. She finds that efforts to diversify police departments, and to promote verbal de-escalation, run into a
