Uploaded January 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
As we debate police reform, many experts think "community-based" policing was a well-intentioned failure. But what if that’s because it was never really tried? We talk to scholars who say few American police departments have ever had true community-based policing, and yet many departments used that label, which has led many to believe it was a failed approach. Yet as concerns about police misconduct, brutality, and killings rise, research on true community-based policing might hold some important insights and potential answers that we can't afford to ignore. This video cites the groundbreaking work of Nobel prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom. It also includes interviews with Dr. Jayme Lemke, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Dr. Liya Palagashvili, Assistant Professor of Economics at SUNY-Purchase. By understanding some of the unintended consequences of earlier attempts at police reform, including the Federal "Community Oriented Policing Services" (C.O.P.S.) program, the consolidation movement, changes in "professionalization standards," police militarization, and more, we can learn what went wrong in the past. And by studying Elinor Ostrom's insights about policing and "co-production," we can learn what true community policing should look like, and we can better understand how to achieve meaningful police reform and effective policies that makes departments truly responsive to each community's needs, and better able to keep communities and officers safe.
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The Institute for Humane Studies supports and partners with professors to promote the teaching and research of classical liberal ideas and to advance higher education’s core purpose of intellectual discovery and human progress. About Us: theihs.org/who-we-are
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As we debate police reform, many experts think "community-based" policing was a well-intentioned failure. But what if that’s because it was never really tried? We talk to scholars who say few American police departments have ever had true community-based policing, and yet many departments used that label, which has led many to believe it was a failed approach. Yet as concerns about police misconduct, brutality, and killings rise, research on true community-based policing might hold some important insights and potential answers that we can't afford to ignore. This video cites the groundbreaking work of Nobel prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom. It also includes interviews with Dr. Jayme Lemke, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Dr. Liya Palagashvili, Assistant Professor of Economics at SUNY-Purchase. By understanding some of the unintended consequences of earlier attempts at police reform, including the Federal "Community Oriented Policing Services" (C.O.P.S.) program, the consolidation movement, changes in "professionalization standards," police militarization, and more, we can learn what went wrong in the past. And by studying Elinor Ostrom's insights about policing and "co-production," we can learn what true community policing should look like, and we can better understand how to achieve meaningful police reform and effective policies that makes departments truly responsive to each community's needs, and better able to keep communities and officers safe.
Subscribe to our channel to see upcoming videos: youtube.com/c/TheIHSorg?sub_confirmation=1
The Institute for Humane Studies supports and partners with professors to promote the teaching and research of classical liberal ideas and to advance higher education’s core purpose of intellectual discovery and human progress. About Us: theihs.org/who-we-are
Twitter: twitter.com/theihs?lang=en
Facebook: facebook.com/InstituteforHumaneStudies
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/instituteforhumanestudies
Instagram: instagram.com/theihs
