Key Takeaways

  • The US has the highest rate of police killings of any wealthy democracy.
  • Evidence-based reforms — body cameras with accountability, de-escalation training, civilian oversight — can reduce violence.
  • Defunding the police is not supported by evidence; adequately funded and well-trained departments perform better.

AI Summary

Key takeaways highlight The US has the highest rate of police killings of any wealthy democracy. Evidence-based reforms — body cameras with accountability, de-escalation training, civilian oversight — can reduce violence. Defunding the police is not supported by evidence; adequately funded and well-trained departments perform better.

Government

Police Reform in America: What Works and What Does Not

December 25, 2026 · 2 min read

The debate about police reform has been loud and produced relatively little change in the statistics that matter.

The US kills approximately 1,000-1,100 people through police action per year. The UK kills roughly 3-5. Germany kills 8-12. Australia kills 10-15. The per-capita gap is enormous and has not narrowed significantly over the past decade.

The George Floyd murder in 2020 generated the largest protest movement in American history. Four years later, the number of people killed by police is approximately what it was before. The politics moved; the practice mostly did not.

What the evidence says works:

De-escalation training. Departments that implement and regularly reinforce de-escalation protocols — talking to people before using force — have lower rates of police violence. Louisville, Kentucky implemented a comprehensive de-escalation training program and saw a 28% reduction in use-of-force incidents.

Civilian oversight with real power. Civilian review boards that can review and discipline officers, subpoena records, and operate independently reduce police violence — when they have actual authority. Advisory boards with no disciplinary power have no measurable effect.

Ending qualified immunity. The Supreme Court doctrine of qualified immunity makes it extremely difficult for people to sue police officers for civil rights violations unless a nearly identical case has previously been decided. It effectively shields officers from accountability for novel abuses. (ACLU, Qualified Immunity) Colorado eliminated state-level qualified immunity — the results are being studied.

Crisis response reform. Many police calls involve mental health crises, substance abuse, or homelessness. Sending a trained mental health professional alongside or instead of an armed officer for these calls reduces dangerous escalations. Denver's STAR program handled 24,000 calls with zero need for police backup.

What does not work: inadequate training, cultural protection of misconduct through police union contracts, prosecutors who rely on police testimony and are reluctant to charge officers, and departments that treat community complaints as threats rather than information.

This is not anti-police. This is what well-functioning police departments actually look like, and there are plenty of examples in America and abroad.

FAQ

How many people does US police kill each year?

US police kill approximately 1,000-1,100 people per year. ([Mapping Police Violence Database](https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/)) The US rate of police killings is roughly 25-30 times higher than most Western European countries per capita. Black Americans are killed by police at roughly twice the rate of white Americans.

Does defunding the police reduce crime?

The limited evidence from cities that cut police budgets significantly is not encouraging — several saw increases in violent crime. Most criminologists support redirecting some police functions to social workers, mental health crisis teams, and community programs rather than reducing overall funding. The evidence for targeted reallocation is more positive than for straight budget cuts.

Do body cameras reduce police violence?

Body cameras reduce police violence when combined with strong accountability policies requiring the cameras to be on during encounters and consequences for officers who turn them off or misuse them. Body cameras alone, without accountability mechanisms, have mixed evidence. The technology is not the reform — the accountability is.

What police reforms have the strongest evidence?

Evidence-based reforms include: required de-escalation training, civilian review boards with real disciplinary power, elimination of chokeholds and no-knock raids, co-responder programs pairing officers with mental health professionals, better officer screening, and ending qualified immunity (the legal doctrine that protects officers from civil liability).

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