Police Culture in the Twenty-First Century: A Critique of the President’s Task Force’s Final Report

Abstract

In May 2015, the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, established by President Barack Obama to address problems associated with aggressive policing, issued its Final Report which details a comprehensive set of recommendations. This essay examines an important theme of the Final Report -- the reforming of police culture -- and concludes that the report's well-intentioned recommendations are destined to fail absent meaningful revitalization of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule and the establishment of a robust standing doctrine.

Keywords: criminal law, Ferguson, police, violence, Fourth Amendment, searches, Constitutional Law, President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, investigation,

JEL Classification: K14