The undelivered dream: Policing, administrative rules and social equity

Abstract The overly aggressive use of force by police on African Americans illustrates a fundamental dissonance within the American polity. The ideal of justice and liberty juxtaposed with the reality of suffering and death at the hands of frontline law enforcement. This paper considers the relationship between administrative rules, policing, and racial disparities in the application of the use of force in the United States through the lens of social equity. The article details the racialized nature of use of force and suggests a possible way forward for administrators to address the unequal application of force by police in their encounters with African Americans. Specifically, the creation of processes that limit discretion related to the use of force, the establishment of uniform licensing standards, and the implementation of a database that tracks all incidents when force is used.