Reports of police use of excessive force appear weekly in the media and have generated outrage in many communities. Officers actions are currently judged by the Graham v Connor ‘standard of reasonableness’, but the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) does not believe that goes far enough and recommend policy changes. Tracy Avelar (CHDS Master's cohort 1505/1506) is a Captain
with the Foster City CA Police Department. Her research focused on evaluating whether adopting PERF’s recommended standards would make a difference in practice and in public perception. This question is again coming to light with legislation being introduced in California to change the standard from ‘reasonable’ to ‘necessary’. The interview also includes reflections on my own actions when put in use of force scenarios.
COVID19 has swept the globe in little more than 3 months. Health officials have enacted quarantine orders to reduce the disease’s spread but who...
Michelle Mallek (CHDS cohort 1401) is legal counsel at FEMA and decided to study ‘Sovereigns‘ because much of the terrorist discussion in mainstream media...
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) guide emergency responders in a crisis, providing predetermined steps to manage anticipated events. However, modern disasters often manifest as complex...
