police — Bunk History

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The Invention of the Police

Why did American policing get so big, so fast? The answer, mainly, is slavery.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on July 13, 2020

Seattle police dressed in riot gear, standing in front of graffiti that reads "abolish the cops."

Police Reform Hasn't Stopped the Killings Before. It Won't Now Either.

Police reform is a time-honored counter-insurgency measure to quell rebellion.

by Garrett Felber via Truthout on July 5, 2020

Liberal Reform Threatens to Expand the Police Power – Just as it Did in the Past

How calls for “real reforms” have resulted in measures that further shield police from real accountability.

by Max Felker-Kantor via HNN on June 28, 2020

NYPD officers in front of an American flag.

There’s Truth in Numbers in Policing – Until There Isn’t

To hold the police accountable for misconduct, data related to police violence must not only become more accessible, it must also become more reliable.

by Carl Suddler via Brookings on June 26, 2020

Police officer behind yellow police tape.

Police Reform Won’t Fix a System That Was Built to Abuse Power

The history of American policing shows that it was designed to eat up resources and subjugate the civilian population.

by Stuart Schrader via The Nation on June 12, 2020

A man in a blue check suit with news microphones pointed at him gestures to rows of uniformed police officers standing behind him.

The Long Tie Between Police Unions and Police Violence — and What to do About It

Limits on when police can use force is a better solution than banning police unions.

by Aaron Bekemeyer via Made By History on June 9, 2020

Yes, American Police Act Like Occupying Armies. They Literally Studied Their Tactics

The founders of modern policing quelled foreign uprisings. ‘Demilitarizing’ police will be harder than taking away their tanks.

by Stuart Schrader via The Guardian on June 8, 2020

The Police Chief Who Inspired Trump’s Tweet Glorifying Violence

Trump echoed a former Miami police chief’s anti-black words and animus.

by Julio Capó Jr. via Made By History on June 1, 2020

Silhouetted soldiers with guns in the street at night

The Imperial History of US Policing: An Interview with Stuart Schrader

Dan Berger interviews Stuart Schrader about his new book on US imperialism.

by Dan Berger, Stuart Schrader via Black Perspectives on January 29, 2020

The Thick Blue Line

How the United States became the world’s police force.

by Patrick Blanchfield via Bookforum on December 2, 2019

How Cars Transformed Policing

Most communities barely had a police force and citizens shared responsibility for enforcing laws. Then the car changed everything.

by Sarah A. Seo via Boston Review on June 3, 2019

Police car.

What the Loss of the New York Police Museum Means for Criminal-Justice Reform

Without historical records, we lose key insights into how law enforcement works — and how it fails.

by Matthew Guariglia via Made By History on May 22, 2019

Why We Can — and Must — Create a Fairer System of Traffic Enforcement

The discretionary nature of traffic enforcement has left it ripe for abuse.

by Sarah A. Seo via Made By History on May 15, 2019

Bad Boys

How “Cops” became the most polarizing reality TV show in America.

by Tim Stelloh via The Marshall Project on January 22, 2018

The Long History of Black Officers Reforming Policing From Within

Some police are becoming more vocal advocates of change. But the project of ending racial bias in policing is a decades-old one.

by Taylor Hosking via The Atlantic on December 5, 2017

Policing the Community

Today, many politicians claim a community approach means soft on crime. Birmingham's Johnnie Johnson Jr. disagrees.

by Lanier Isom via The Bitter Southerner on July 18, 2017

Policing the Colony: From the American Revolution to Ferguson

King George's tax collectors abused police powers to fill his coffers. Sound familiar?

by Chris Hayes via The Nation on March 29, 2017

The Canine Terror

Since slavery, dogs have been used to intimidate and control African Americans.

by Tyler D. Parry, Charlton W. Yingling via Jacobin on May 19, 2016

Two members of a teenage street gang are taken into the 9th Precinct police station after their arrest in New York City.

The Forgotten Law That Gave Police Nearly Unlimited Power

The vagrancy law regime regulated so much more than what is generally considered “vagrancy.”

by Risa Goluboff via TIME on February 1, 2016

Close up of violin

Who Is the Black Cop?

What is it like to be a Black police officer, and how does the Black community feel about these officers?

by Black Journal via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on June 23, 1969

Militarized National Guard confronts peaceful protesters in Los Angeles, 2025.

What History Tells Us to Expect From Trump’s Escalation in Los Angeles Protests

Since the 1960s, studies have shown that heavy-handed policing and militarized responses tend to make protests more volatile — not less.

by Jamiles Lartey via The Marshall Project on June 9, 2025

View of a cast member sitting nude on scaffolding during a performance.

The Sixties Come Back to Life in “Everything Is Now”

J. Hoberman’s teeming history of New York’s avant-garde scene is a fascinating trove of research and a thrilling clamor of voices.

by Richard Brody via The New Yorker on June 6, 2025

During its first year of service, Freedom House Amublance Service transported more than 4,600 patients across 5,800 calls, saving 200 lives. Heinz History Center

These Black Paramedics Are the Reason You Don’t Have to Ride a Hearse or Police Van to the Hospital

In the 1960s and 1970s, Freedom House Ambulance Service set the standard for emergency medical care, laying the groundwork for the services available today.

by Lillian Ali via Smithsonian on May 21, 2025

LAPD building dedicated to William H. Parker.

The World Darryl Gates Made: Race, Policing, and the Birth of SWAT

The very features that made the LAPD appear more professional also expanded its reach and capacity for violence.

by Aaron Stagoff-Belfort via The Metropole on May 7, 2025

Men work in an FBI office.

FBI and CIA Conducted Illegal Surveillance of 1960s Student Activists in the South

Newly declassified records reveal how paranoia about subversion in conservative states resulted in major constitutional violations.

by Jeremy Kuzmarov via CovertAction Magazine on March 13, 2025

Sheet music for W.C. Handy’s St. Louis Blues, 1925, featuring blue and white images of Louis Armstrong.

Imani Perry’s Blue Notes

Her new book tells the story of Black people through an exploration of the color blue.

by Mychal Denzel Smith via The New Republic on February 5, 2025

A collage of a gavel, a comb, and a gloved hand in front of a sexual assault examination form.

The Frustrated Promise of the Rape Kit

Standardized forensic exams are a useful tool for sexual-violence investigations—or they would be if police departments consistently tested their findings.

by Jessica Winter via The New Yorker on February 3, 2025

A National Guard stands near a burning building during the Los Angeles uprising of 1992.

How Disaster Provides Cover for Targeting Immigrants

Efforts to target immigrants amid the 1992 L.A. Uprising point to what deportations might look like under Trump 2.0.

by V. N. Trinh via Made By History on January 27, 2025

A line of workmen drilling.

A Prison the Size of the State, A Police to Control the World

Two new books examine how colonial logic has long been embedded within US carceral systems.

by Marisol LeBrón via Public Books on December 17, 2024

A member of the Michigan National Guard stands at the ready as firemen battle a blaze in Detroit in July 1967.

White and Black Activists Worked Strategically in Parallel in Detroit 50 Years Ago for Civil Rights

Since George Floyd’s murder, some white allies seek ways to fight racial inequality. Detroit’s 1960s "racially parallel organizing" offers insights.

by Say Burgin via The Conversation on December 5, 2024

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