What We Are Getting Wrong About Police Reform
Vann R. Newkirk II · 11/09/15 12:50PM![](http://d20hvt89h2l7r8.cloudfront.net/1511569483992606095/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800.jpg)
Are there too many police or are there too few? In the months since Black Lives Matter activists first organized protests against police violence, the concept of over-policing has become key in understanding the dynamic against which they fight, especially in dramatically over-policed places like Ferguson. Some opponents contend that black communities are actually under-policed, citing rates of violent crime and 911 response time as the reason to increase police presence. The focus on numbers, however, belies the fact that both over- and under-policing have been used to oppress black communities.