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What’s been done to reform police departments? The Post answers your questions.

The Post’s investigative team discuss their reporting on past efforts to reform police departments

June 11, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. EDT
Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert walks with other police officers of the Community Engagement Office in the Troy Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on May 11. (Jeff Swensen for The Washington Post)

On Thursday, The Washington Post published an examination into three past attempts to reform American police departments. The reporting found that most efforts are incremental and often fade when public pressure wanes, according to interviews with dozens of people involved and a review of documents related to the four efforts.

What do you want to know about ongoing efforts to reform police departments? The Post’s Robert Klemko and John Sullivan answered your questions regarding the recent proposals to rethink policing and the past attempts to implement reforms. Here are some of the questions they answered:

Klemko covers policing and criminal justice reform for The Post. In April, he reported on a Native American neighborhood in Minneapolis that created its own alternative to policing, a community protection force. Sullivan is an investigative reporter for The Post and, last year, he wrote about a police driving maneuver used to end pursuits that has killed and injured those in the vehicle.

The Post has a team of journalists dedicated to reporting on policing in America, including an updated database that records every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer. Find more here.

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Teddy Amenabar, an editor on The Post’s audience team, produced this Q&A.

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