National Coalition of Law Enforcement Officers for Justice, Reform and Accountability
Criminal-justice reform advocate with the nonprofit National Coalition of Law Enforcement Officers for Justice, Reform and Accountability; former police officer with the St. Louis Police Department, where he served for five years
What's It Like to Be a Cop in America? There are some 680,000 sworn police officers in the United States. Thanks to a year of cellphone videos spread on social media, "every one of them has had to answer, in one way or another, for the actions of colleagues they will never meet." Such videos of shootings, beatings and apparent racial profiling have reduced public confidence in police all over the country. When every local encounter has the potential for national news coverage, street cops say, "Everything is just harder." Many departments are engaging in damage control by re-training officers to think of themselves as guardians, rather than warriors. But critics say that's not enough -- that the justice system is rigged in the cops' favor, and the only true reform is to hold them accountable.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?