Table Of Content“On occasion, a book’s title is so bold that the reader is eager to read it to see if
the author can back up the title’s assertion. Dr. Natasha Pratt-Harris’ Why the Police
Should be Trained by Black People is a book that not only proves what the title says,
but gives compelling reasons why police training should be placed in the hands
of Black people. This timely book should be studied by police academies across
the nation during a period when policing is being re-examined by policy makers
and those who train its officers. It is also a must-have handbook for citizens truly
interested in police reform. This is the book I’ve been waiting for on law enforce-
ment in America!”
Raymond Arnold Winbush aka Tikari Bioko, PhD, Research Professor
and Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University
“As a thirty-six-year criminal justice professional and the President of the National
Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, I endorse the book Why the Police Should
be Trained by Black People. Natasha Pratt-Harris gives a compelling argument to
support the need for encompassing training for police officers that include instruc-
tion in the communities they serve. Her assertion that Black trainers will be
more adapt at performing such actions is detailed in this book. Her research was
conducted with over thirty authors who contributed their views on Blacks and
police training and acknowledges the need for transformative change in the tools
used to prepare police officers.”
Terri McGee, President National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice
“This edited volume offers a much-needed discussion of the substantive changes
necessary to improve encounters between African American people and law enforce-
ment. The essays, offer a range of intersectional understandings and evaluations of
this fraught relationship. This academic exploration includes a look at religion, cul-
ture, gender, class, in addition to race. Prof. Pratt-Harris’s collection offers some rays
of hope for tackling a centuries-long problem.”
Katheryn Russell-Brown, Levin, Mabie & Levin Professor of Law,
University of Florida, Levin College of Law
WHY THE POLICE SHOULD BE
TRAINED BY BLACK PEOPLE
Why the Police Should be Trained by Black People aligns scholarly and community
efforts to address how Black people are policed. It combines traditional models
commonly taught in policing courses, with new approaches to teaching and training
about law enforcement in the U.S. all from the Black lens.
Black law enforcement professionals (seasoned and retired), scholars, community
members, victims, and others make up the contributors to this training textbook
written from the lens of the Black experience. Each chapter describes policing
based on the experience of being Black in the U.S., with concern about the life and
life chances for Black people. With five sections, readers will be able to:
• Describe the history and theory of law enforcement, policing, and society in
Black communities
• Critically address how law enforcement and the nature of police work inter-
twine with race-b ased societal and governmental norms and within law
enforcement administration and management
• Understand the variation in pedagogy, recruitment, selection, and training that
has impacted the experience of police officers, including Black police officers,
and Black people in the U.S.
• Explore the role of law enforcement as crime control and crime prevention
agents as it relates to policing in Black communities and for Black people
• Address issues related to race and use of force, misconduct, the law, and ethics/
values
• Assess research, contemporary issues, and the future of law enforcement and
policing, especially related to policing of Black people.
Why the Police Should be Trained by Black People brings pedagogical and scholarly
responsibility for policing in Black communities to life, revealing that police-i nvolved
violence, community violence, and relative lived experiences do not exist in a
vacuum. Written with students in mind, it is essential reading for those enrolled in
policing courses including criminology, criminal justice, sociology, or social work, as
well as those undertaking police academy and in- service police training.
Natasha C. Pratt-H arris is an associate professor and the immediate past
Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Program and the current Graduate Coordinator
in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology and Criminal Justice
at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. She is also a trained statistician and
methodologist. Pratt- Harris supervises criminal justice interns, teaches statistics,
research methods, juvenile justice, criminology, and criminal justice courses, where
she addresses “dis- proportionality” at various stages throughout the juvenile and
adult criminal justice system. She co- teaches a Police and Society course based on
a Policing Inside- Out Model (Dr. Muhammad Experience) where HBCU students,
community members, and law enforcement are enrolled for 15 weeks to collectively
address police community relations.
WHY THE POLICE
SHOULD BE TRAINED
BY BLACK PEOPLE
Edited by Natasha C. Pratt- Harris
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Natasha C. Pratt- Harris; individual chapters,
the contributors
The right of Natasha C. Pratt- Harris to be identified as the author of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Pratt-Harris, Natasha C., editor.
Title: Why the police should be trained by Black people /
edited by Natasha C. Pratt-Harris.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021051414 (print) | LCCN 2021051415 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367716059 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367684136 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003152842 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Police–United States. | Police-community relations–United States. |
Police training–United States. | African Americans. | Discrimination in law
enforcement–United States. | United States–Race relations.
Classification: LCC HV8139.W49 2022 (print) | LCC HV8139 (ebook) |
DDC 363.2071–dc23/eng/20220113
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051414
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051415
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 71605- 9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 68413- 6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 15284- 2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003152842
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
This 20- chapter edited volume is written in memory of the first Black person
captured, injured, and killed by slave patrols in the United States. It is also written
in memory of the countless others who have met the same fate since (not armed,
taken into custody, injured, and killed by a sworn officer of the law). We have
been carried by the spirit of our ancestors, the many loved ones each of us have
mourned during this journey, and our commitment to this work. Our dedication
is to each and every person who has the opportunity to read this edited volume
and who will do their part to make our worlds safer and more just. We thank our
friends and family members who have encouraged us to live our divine purposes.
We love each and every one of you.
CONTENTS
List of Figures xii
List of Tables xiii
List of Contributors xiv
Foreword by Loretta P. Prater xviii
1 An Introduction and Recommendation that Police be
Trained by Black People 1
Natasha C. Pratt- Harris
PART I
Evolution and Future of Policing Black People 9
2 Black Criminology and Criminal Justice 101 11
Jacqueline M. Rhoden- Trader and Bahiyyah M. Muhammad
3 Due Process and Justice in Black Communities 25
Sharon D. Jones- Eversley, A. Christson Adedoyin,
Lori James- Townes, and Johnny Rice
4 Help without Harm: Black Cops as Police Trainers 42
De Lacy D. Davis, Delores Jones- Brown, Tyrone Powers, and
Leslie Parker Blyther
