It took just days for the national anguish over the killing of George Floyd to generate calls for change in American policing — from broad slogans like “abolish the police” to detailed proposals about qualified immunity and funding structures — but it took months for those ideas to shape themselves into a clear political agenda.
Now, heading into November, a handful of cities and counties will be voting on police reform ballot measures that could pave the way for bigger changes across the country. As public confidence in law enforcement has dipped to its lowest level since the 1990s, the environment for criminal justice reform seems particularly ripe. But reformers have collided with the tricky politics of law and order and familiar obstacles such as police unions, which have fought to stifle quick legislative action at the local level across the country.
These ballot measures offer advocates for reform an opportunity to circumvent lawmakers and make changes to their police. Nowhere is outright abolition of policing being considered this fall, although there have been a few serious attempts. A Cincinnati lawmaker tried and failed to get a measure before voters to replace their police department with a public safety […]
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