The Challenges of Reimagining Policing: A Comparative Perspective

At a time when protests in the United States and around the world are bringing attention to systemic abuses committed by the police, many are asking important questions about what works in police reform. While significant scholarly attention has focused on how increases in police spending impact crime, far less attention has been paid to the efficacy of institutional reforms that reshape who joins the police, how police are trained, and rules and procedures that govern police-citizen relations. Drawing on comparative evidence from their own micro-level studies of police reform in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, Beatriz Magaloni and Jeremy Weinstein explore the evidence for prominent reforms now on the policy agenda including: community policing, external oversight, and the use of new technologies (e.g. body-worn cameras). Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, offers welcome remarks and moderates questions from the audience.