The Politics of Policing

To protect and serve the public. It's something we hear quite often from our law enforcement agencies, but is it an accurate portrayal of policing in America? Do the police actually solve and prevent crime? Are they legally bound to protect the public? In this week's Coup Save America, Sean will explore the politics of policing while dismantling the many pervasive myths about policing. Joining Sean is former police chief, Edward Cronin, who connected directly to the citizens his department served, realizing that crime was a symptom of inequality in his city and in our society, and that only by listening and identifying key leverage points can communities do the work to overcome these injustices.

The work that Chief Cronin did in his city was a first of its kind attempt in the U.S. to add the new concepts of systems thinking and community policing to solve the urgent problems of both the high murder rate and high school dropout rate in his city. With his assembled brilliant task force of like-minded thinkers, he achieved extraordinary results. Fortified by his university education, his professors, and an indigenous Latina named Sayra Pinto, the work engendered a ripple effect through his city and then, across the globe.