The program began with an intimate conversation with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who recently co-chaired the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. About twenty protesters chanted and shouted statements at the Commission for about five minutes before Ramsey, the former police chief of Washington, D.C., offered his perspective from the field and discussed current efforts to strengthen police-community relations across the country.
The program continued with a panel of scholars to discuss what “just policing” looks like in a democratic society and the specific steps to get there. Participants included David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute; and Theodore Shaw of the University of North Carolina School of Law. Michael Days, editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, moderatered.