PULLMAN, Wash. – A panel of experts in law enforcement and criminal justice will deliver a free public presentation “Race and policing in America” at 4:30 p.m., Sept. 27, in the CUB Auditorium at Washington State University.
“There has never been a more timely moment to discuss this important issue,” said Cornell Clayton, professor of political science and director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public and Public Service Foley Institute at WSU, which is hosting the event.
“Across the country, members of minority communities are expressing deep distrust toward the police departments that are there to serve them,” Clayton said.
Recent events demonstrate an ongoing crisis in the American criminal justice system, and high-profile shootings of unarmed suspects by police have provoked widespread protest. For their part, police officers often feel besieged as targets of camera-phone crusaders, social media and a 24-hour news cycle.
Tuesday’s panel discussion features Lorenzo Boyd, president of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and chair of the department of criminal justice at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Captain C.P. Taylor of the Tacoma Police Department; Phillip Tyler, president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP; and Dale Willits, assistant professor in the department of criminal justice at WSU.
The non-partisan Foley Institute at WSU, Pullman, focuses on bringing world-class speakers to public events; supporting student internships in public service; and supporting scholarly research on public policy and political institutions.
More information can be found at http://foley.wsu.edu.
Media Contact:
Richard Elgar, assistant director, Foley Institute, 509-335-3477, relgar@wsu.edu.
