The Council on Policing Reforms and Race released more than fifty recommendations to address policing and public safety. The Council is an independent, non-partisan initiative formed by the National Policing Institute to support excellence in policing, address racial disparities and build and enhance trust and legitimacy. The recommendations on fines and fees highlight the problems with placing police at the center of enforcing financial sanctions and the devastating impacts of fines and fees on the economically disadvantaged and racial and ethnic minorities.
Read the full text of the report here.
Recommendations:
- Do not use law enforcement to collect fines and fees
- Decouple law enforcement agency budgets from fines
- Do not use law enforcement to serve warrants for unpaid fines and fees
- Reduce the harm of fines and fees using evidence
- Implement strategies to reduce non-payment of fines and fees
Research institution(s): National Policing Institute