• Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten by Memphis police, sparking protests across the country and raising the question of what to do about police brutality.
• The “defund the police” movement was a failure, and even Black Americans wanted more spending on policing in their neighborhoods.
• Compared to other developed countries, U.S. police have far fewer hours of training and are more likely to use deadly force.
• Increasing the required hours of police training in America by a factor of 4 or 5 is an obvious policy to try, but some activists are resistant to the idea.
• Professionalizing the police should go beyond training to include education, such as requiring a college degree, which would create positive selection effects and lead to healthier lifestyles.
Published January 29, 2023
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