Alkon on Negotiating Police Reform

Cynthia Alkon (Texas A&M University School of Law) has posted Negotiating Police Reform (Mississippi Law Journal, Vol. 93, No. 5, 2024, pp. 1053-72) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

 

In the summer of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, the national conversation around police reform intensified and was part of a conversation with students at Texas A&M University School of Law. Students wanted more discussion and teaching about police, police misconduct, police reform, and defunding the police. Following those discussions, I created a simulation on local level police reform that, as of this writing, I have used twice in my negotiation class. Simulations are helpful teaching tools in a variety of settings, including law schools. Simulations can be particularly useful to help students discuss difficult topics in different ways by putting students in roles that demand that they go beyond their own views and that they put themselves in the shoes of others. I wanted an exercise that would help students to discuss police reform, police funding, and the issues of race that are wrapped up in these topics in a different way. In this short essay, I will explain the simulation, how I have used it in class, how it can be used to stimulate discussion around police reform, and some of the lessons I have learned in terms of how to conduct and organize this simulation.