Study Guide for Policing

AIM (American Indian Movement)

A pan-indigenous Red Power organization of the 1960s-70s that used protests and direct actions, such as "confrontation politics," to challenge federal and tribal leadership and strengthen tribal sovereignty.

Black Lives Matter

A slogan and social movement that emerged after the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin and grew into a major protest movement after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown. It focuses on racist police abuse and the broader violent marginalization of Black Americans.

Black Panther Party

A Black Power organization co-founded by Huey Newton that pursued Black autonomy and sovereignty through independent institution-building, copwatching, and asserting the right to self-defense.

Broken Windows Policing

A form of "order maintenance" policing based on the theory that minor signs of disorder can lead to more serious crime. In practice, it often involves saturating neighborhoods with foot patrols to address small infractions.

CAHOOTS

An acronym for Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, a program in Eugene, Oregon, cited as an alternative to police for providing immediate assistance on the ground for certain crises.

Civilian Review Board

An entity created to address police discrimination and misconduct by allowing civilian oversight. An early example in Philadelphia (1958) was considered weak as it could only recommend outcomes and could not compel testimony.

COINTELPRO

The FBI's "Counter-Intelligence Program" (1956-1971) that surveilled, infiltrated, and undermined groups deemed "subversive," primarily those on the political left, including anti-war protestors.

Community Policing

A slogan originating in the 1980s calling for alternatives to militarized policing. Its meaning is contested, ranging from improving "policing-community relations" to implementing "broken windows" strategies.

Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

A police union that actively opposed civilian review boards, arguing they demoralized government, facilitated lawlessness, and violated the fundamental liberties of police officers.

Great Migration

The movement of over 6 million Black Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and West between approximately 1910 and 1970, driven by the decline of Southern agriculture and rising demand for industrial labor.

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986

Also known as the "Simpson-Mazzoli Act," this law penalized employers for hiring undocumented workers, increased border enforcement, and provided a pathway to legal status for certain undocumented immigrants.

Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) of 1975

Federal legislation that formalized and expanded funding to tribes, diminished Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) oversight, and authorized tribal law enforcement, augmenting tribal autonomy.

Kefauver Committee

A U.S. Senate committee (1950-51) that investigated organized crime in interstate commerce. It expressed concern about crime syndicates operating as a "government within a government" and framed their activities as monopolistic abuses of economic power.

Kerner Commission

A presidential committee formed to investigate the causes of the 1967 urban rebellions. Its 1968 report identified white supremacy and the existence of "two societies" as the root cause and recommended massive investments in Black communities and police professionalization.

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)

An agency created by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. It funded the professionalization of local and state police through grants, with a focus on areas like "riot control."

McCarthyism

A broad effort in the late 1940s and mid-1950s, spearheaded by Senator Joseph McCarthy, to remove people and policies associated with Communism from American society, utilizing legislative hearings, loyalty oaths, and FBI surveillance.

Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)

An organization that serves a coordinating function within the broader Black Lives Matter movement, working to tie the movement to specific policy demands such as criminal legal reforms, reparations, and welfare state provisions through a "Divest-Invest" model.

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) / Wagner Act

A 1935 New Deal law that guaranteed collective bargaining rights for many workers, excluding agricultural, domestic, and public-sector employees. It created a non-policing framework for labor regulation.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms enacted under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s that dramatically expanded the state's role in managing the economy to provide economic security and stave off fascism and communism.

Office of Public Safety (OPS)

A Cold War police assistance program (1962-1974) that provided U.S. allies with training and equipment to professionalize their police forces for the stated purpose of fighting crime and "communist subversion."

Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

Federal legislation that launched the "War on Crime" by funding the professionalization of local and state police through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), modeled on foreign police assistance programs like OPS.

Red Power Movement

A movement of the 1960s-70s focused on Native American "survival" and "sovereignty." It used cultural revival, protests, and direct actions like the occupations of Alcatraz and Wounded Knee to strengthen tribal sovereignty.

Sanctuary Movement

An international ecumenical movement in the 1980s that sought to stop U.S.-backed wars in Central America and care for displaced refugees by having churches and other institutions publicly declare themselves "sanctuaries."

Termination

A U.S. federal policy from 1953 to the 1960s that severed federal responsibilities and relationships with over 100 Native American tribes, promoted emigration to cities, and subjected tribal citizens to state and local police.

Urban Renewal

A post-WWII housing policy, authorized by the Housing Act of 1949, that involved "slum clearance" where urban areas, often home to minority populations, were seized via eminent domain for new housing, highways, and commercial development.

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)

A major federal crime bill that defined new crimes, increased sentences, and funded prison expansion and the hiring of more police officers.

War on Crime

A federal initiative, officially launched by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, that used federal funding to professionalize and militarize local and state police forces to address rising crime and social unrest.

War on Drugs

A government-led initiative to stop illegal drug use, distribution, and trade. It was significantly expanded under Presidents Nixon, who created the DEA, and Reagan, whose administration passed laws with mandatory minimum sentences.

War on Poverty

A set of government programs initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, including the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, designed to address the causes and effects of poverty through programs like Head Start and Food Stamps.