A New Platform for Understanding Use of Force

More than five years after George Floyd's killing sparked unprecedented demands for police reform, questions persist about the changes that have—and haven't—been made to American policing.

Has the post-Floyd reform movement actually changed America’s approach to regulating force? Are police departments moving beyond the “objectively reasonable” standard set by the Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor?

Debates continue about police policies that regulate force and the activities that often lead to its use. A recent policy prohibits New York City police officers from chasing drivers who break traffic laws or commit other low-level offenses. In Oakland, the city’s police chief proposed loosening pursuit policies after coming under pressure from California Governor Gavin Newsom who threatened to pull back state public safety support.

From the White House, President Trump has questioned whether the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6th, 2021 acted lawfully, reopening a case the U.S. Department of Justice closed after determining the officer’s use of deadly force did not violate federal law. His administration later agreed to a nearly $5 million settlement with Babbitt's family.

Against this backdrop, the Stanford Center for Racial Justice is launching a comprehensive new platform dedicated to improving understanding and implementation of force policies across America’s 18,000 different law enforcement agencies. Our research reveals significant variations in how police departments regulate force. While many departments have incorporated more restrictive standards, others continue to use notably permissive force policies.

This new platform brings together several interconnected components:

• Use of Force Policy Explorer: An interactive tool analyzing policies from the 100 largest U.S. cities against 22 specific criteria, representing what we believe to be the largest systematic analysis of American force regulations to date.
• 10-Module Model Use of Force Policy: Drawing on policy best practices from around the country and extensive research in public health, social sciences, and criminal justice.
• Policy Toolkit: Equipping community members, advocates, elected officials, and police leaders with resources to analyze current policies and implement meaningful reforms.
• Research Report: Our in-depth analysis of use of force policies across America, examining regulations from 100 cities, post-Floyd policy reforms, and revisiting constitutional standards.

These resources are the culmination of a multi-year project by the Stanford Center for Racial Justice, combining rigorous research with practical policymaking. Our team analyzed thousands of pages of regulations across 100 jurisdictions to develop these evidence-based resources. We’ve already put these resources to work, helping communities and police departments rewrite their force regulations, while shaping policy conversations and reform efforts in states like Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Virginia.

This research takes on particular significance as the nation enters a new political landscape. Federal legislative efforts to reform policing, like the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, have stalled and the Trump Justice Department rescinded findings of constitutional violations and closed civil rights investigations into police conduct in Minneapolis, where Floyd was murdered, as well as Louisville (KY), Phoenix (AZ), Trenton (NJ), Memphis (TN), Mount Vernon (NY), Oklahoma City (OK), and the Louisiana State Police–interventions that have historically led to use of force reforms. With the venue for police reform now primarily at state and local levels, our new tools provide unprecedented access to comprehensive policy assessments and key regulatory language to support evidence-based policymaking.

We invite you to explore these resources and join us in our mission to promote safe, fair, and effective law enforcement policies across America.