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Excited for #MPSA19! If you’re a person who enjoys waking up early on Saturday mornings, @Nicole_Yadon and I are presenting a paper 8am Sat which considers how the reported victim of police violence impacts perceptions and opinions of policing. @womenalsoknow @POCalsoknow (1/8)
In a survey experiment of whites, reading about a fatal police shooting with a white victim increases the likelihood of supporting a Civilian Review/Community Oversight Board — and sours perceptions of police — when compared to reading about a black victim. (2/8)
Our findings are quite timely, given the on-going debate in my home state, Tennessee, re: Nashville’s new Community Oversight Board. The COB there is the result of a tireless effort from @OversightNow and other orgs in the Nashville area. (3/8)
Petitioning got the issue on the 2018 ballot, and 59% of Nashvillians voted to create a COB for the city. COB members are nominated by the community, city council, and mayor — and, like other Metro-Nashville agencies, the COB has subpoena power. (4/8)
This is an issue for some in the TNHouse. Legislation has been proposed to remove that subpoena power from COBs in TN and require that members of COBs be registered voters. COBs would also have to submit an annual report to the TN Gen Assembly re: their own activity. (5/8)
TNSenate version of the bill restores subpoena power, but maintains the other additional requirements of COBs. Certainly not the first time local politics in Nashville and ideology in the Gen Assembly have come into conflict. (6/8)
Important for our work: The COB in Nashville (and elsewhere) has been framed racially, as a black issue — in response to disproportionate interactions, and especially fatal interactions, between black citizens and Metro-Nashville PD. (7/8)
The state-level pushback to Nashville’s COB reflects findings in our paper and reinforces my perception that if the majority white TN Gen Assembly saw the COB as a response to white concerns about police, efforts to micro-legislate would be very different. (All done.)
