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Experts Fear Smaller Cities Are Ill-Equipped to Handle George Floyd Protests

June 08 2020

Research shows that police bias and use of force incidents – the main underlying reasons for the ongoing protests – are occurring in small and rural towns, says Chris Burbank, the vice president of law enforcement strategy for the Center for Policing Equity, a think tank whose research focuses on identifying and reducing the causes of racial disparities in law enforcement.

He says the incidents aren't as frequently reported as they are in bigger cities, and that they tend to happen more infrequently due to the size of the areas.

Burbank, who was also formerly a police chief in Salt Lake City, hopes that what is happening now across the country brings about change. He suggests laws banning the chokehold and creating databases that document officers previously fired or terminated over use of force incidents so they can't easily go work elsewhere. House Democrats on Monday unveiled a policing reform bill that includes similar changes.

"We have now grabbed the attention of America," Burbank says.

Read the full article by Elliott Davis for US News