Police Accountability

Police brutality and misconduct is disproportionately experienced in communities of color. LCR has successfully litigated police misconduct cases, and we have a successful track record of negotiating the implementation of cultural competency and implicit bias training in response to incidents of racial profiling. Social science research confirms that diversity is a critical component of decreasing the tension between communities of color and public safety agencies. LCR implements a multi-prong approach to promote and strengthen community policing such as challenging the failure to hire qualified candidates of color (bypassing); monitoring residency requirements for public safety jobs; and advocating for linguistic diversity in public safety agencies (language certification).

Coleman v. Boston Police Dep’t (federal lawsuit for the fatal shooting of an unarmed young Black man by the Boston police)

Boston Police Dep’t v. Gaitor (administrative appeal to defend a finding that BPD failed to notify applicants for the position of police officer of their legal appeal rights, violating due process)

Morgan v. Boston Police Dep’t. (challenging the arbitrary and discriminatory use of criminal history records in hiring)