The death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer with a history of excessive force complaints has spurred protests, demonstrations, and riots across the nation. Peaceful protests are more than justified. However, the lawless riots are not; they are enacting the very injustices they claim to contest and on a colossal and catastrophic scale.

Unfortunately, the violence, theft, arson, killing and wanton destruction some protesters have unleashed—perhaps incited in part by outside terrorist provocateurs—is likely to exacerbate existing cultural and political schisms, making meaningful policy reform even more difficult. In fact, the violence and destruction is leaving deep and painful scars on the urban landscape.

This video features Independent Institute Research Fellow Samuel R. Staley with Independent Executive Director Graham H. Walker in a discussion on the policies and actions that have led us to where we are today with campaigns to defund police departments and other calls to action. Dr. Staley will propose solutions that are capable of bringing about necessary practical changes in organizational structures and incentives and reforms that could have real, long-term impact and reduce the likelihood of police brutality, if we enact them.

Dr. Staley is Research Fellow and film critic at the Independent Institute, Director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center in the College of Social Sciences at Florida State University, and an author and award-winning novelist. He received his Ph.D. in public administration with concentrations in urban planning and public finance from Ohio State University.