Mayor to Mayor: Taking the Lead on Police Accountability
Overview
In the wake of the high-profile police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tyre Nichols, and other unarmed Black people, long-term calls for heightened police accountability and justice have swelled with renewed fervor and reach. With an estimated 18,000 police departments operating across the country, police oversight remains highly localized, making mayors crucial political actors in responding to these calls.
We asked 26 local officials—including mayors, city councilors, and police chiefs—about the challenges and opportunities they face in advancing police accountability. Mayors told us over and over that when they found themselves facing difficult decisions, the most valuable resource they had was support from other mayors. In that spirit, this report shares peer-to-peer advice and insights from experienced mayors across the country—often in their own words. We heard seven common insights on how to be effective leaders on police accountability that are of particular significance to mayors who care about this issue, especially those entering office for the first time:
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Create a vision for public safety in your jurisdiction: Mayors must develop a plan for community safety that extends beyond police and addresses system-level factors, including racial and economic inequality, that contribute to disparate experiences with police among residents.
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Invest in key relationships: To make progress on strengthening police accountability, mayors need a broad coalition of supporters, including community leaders, police chiefs, police officers, and activists.
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Step up to the podium: Mayors should use their platform to push forward police accountability measures and elevate other voices with less access to media coverage, like victims of police misconduct and their family members.
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Define what police should be doing and measure whether they do it: Many mayors noted that police officers' current responsibilities are too broad, and 60 percent of interviewees listed alternative (non-law enforcement) unarmed response to select 911 calls as a priority for improving police accountability. Mayors should re-envision the metrics used to evaluate officers since many traditional metrics (e.g., number of arrests) do not align with mayors’ priorities.
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To change the culture within the police department, hire, train, and promote the right people: To shift departmental culture from a “warrior” mentality to a “guardian” one, mayors can select a like-minded chief, work with chiefs to oust problematic officers, and reform officer training and promotion pathways to incentivize desired behaviors.
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Own the difficult decisions: Mayors should make timely disciplinary decisions, proactively learn the limits of their authority, request external support when needed, and prepare desired policy changes for when policy windows open.
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Remember why police accountability matters to your community: Mayors and elected officials frequently shared the personal experiences and ardent beliefs that drove them to run for office and to take difficult political stances on police accountability.