Are All the Apples Bad? Police In 20 Largest US Cities Fail To Meet Basic Human Rights Guidelines

Completely destroying the oft-cited "lone bad apple theory, " according to a new report from the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, police departments in 20 of the largest US cities failed to meet the "minimum standards" of basic international human rights guidelines. The report indicated that compared with many other places in the world, police are given far more discretion to use deadly force. The researchers behind the study tried to determine how police policy in the US compares with international human rights standards. As metrics for the standards, the report used the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the researchers said were "the two fundamental international instruments protecting human rights".

The researchers also considered the rules that law enforcement officers in the US claim to follow, which are the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. However, actual police conduct out in the streets fails to meet any of these standards. In the report, clinic director Claudia Flores said that police have far too much discretion to use deadly force on suspects. "Police departments grant their officers deadly discretion, allowing the use of lethal force to capture an escaping suspect or to prevent the commission of a felony, regardless of whether the suspect poses a threat of any kind. "

Additionally, They pointed out That Reviews some of the least compliant departments on the list HAD Reviews some of the loosest rules about using lethal strength.