Pushing Back: Utilizing History to Confront Policing Through Policy and Litigation

This program, taught by Destiny Fullwood, a criminal defense attorney, activist, and police and prison abolitionist, will cover the history of policing in America from its advent up until today. Attendees will learn about current models of police training on both the federal and state levels, where these models of training fall short, and how to use this information to analyze current proposals for expanded anti-bias training. Finally, attendees will learn concrete strategies to use information about police training to attack officer credibility on cross-examination. 

This course will benefit criminal defense and civil rights attorneys, as well as anyone seeking to understand more about the history of policing in the United States and current calls for reform. The course is taught from an explicitly abolitionist perspective. 

Learning Objectives:  

1. Trace the formation of modern-day policing from the 1800s until today

2. Analyze current models of police training and review the available research behind each model

3. Construct a cross-examination attacking officer credibility