Policing Crisis

photograph at night of front line of police in riot gear holding batons

The United States has the highest incarceration rates in the developed world and glaring racial disparities in sentencing. Our increasingly militarized police force kills civilians—disproportionately Black, Latinx, and Indigenous—at a rate many times higher than in other comparable democracies.

Image: © 2020 Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
page from Spring 2021: Moment of Reflection: Memorial. An image of A candlelight vigil in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 19, 2020, honors George Floyd and others killed by police with an installation created by Anna Barber and Connor Wright.

May 25, 2022, marks the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The UUA lifts up the life of George Floyd and honors his loved ones and his community, all of whom will have a painful and indelible memory in their hearts forever.

Image: Image © 2020 Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters seek refuge at First Unitarian Church, following the curfew set a day after a grand jury decided not to bring homicide charges against police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in her apartment, in Louisville.

In Louisville, Kentucky; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Lexington, Massachusetts, Unitarian Universalist congregations targeted by police or by right-wing protesters remain steadfast.

Image: © REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant
Organizer Justice Gatson founded the Reale Justice Network in Kansas City, Missouri.

Justice Gatson founded the Reale Justice Network in Kansas City, Missouri. Among other social justice issues, it focuses on ending the cash bail system, a national issue that disparately affects people of color.

Image: © 2020 Kelcie McKenney
Book cover "Stony the Road" by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Notable guides to the roots of white supremacy in American policing.

Image: Courtesy Penguin
Religious leaders gather outside First Unitarian Church in Louisville on September 25, 2020, in support of protesters.

In the struggle to transform America’s violent and discriminatory system of policing, First Unitarian Church of Louisville offers sanctuary and support.

Image: © 2020 Jon Cherry/Getty Images