“We cannot understand police violence by delving into the personal motivations and character of a cop who shoots a child trying on a dress. We can only understand recurring police violence by giving people the context that enables them to think structurally about why, despite decades of ‘reform,’ a summer of uprisings in 2020, and so many ‘good cops’ everywhere, the police shot and killed more people in 2021 than 2020, more people in 2022 than in 2021, more people in 2023 than in 2022, and more people in 2024 than in 2023.”
That’s Alec Karakatsanis, founder of the justice organization Civil Rights Corps, in his new book Copaganda.
Indeed, the glimmer of hope bubbling within American society that policing was changing after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 has seemingly snuffed out. And to Karkatsanis, the media has played a large role in that.
“[T]here is a central myth that haunts almost all reporting on public safety in this country…that the policies in police departments, prosecutor offices, courts, jails, prisons have a significant effect on crime and levels of violence in our society. That is completely and utter nonsense,” Karakatsanis tells Prem.
According to Karakatsanis, this myth is “presented in literally every news story” about crime and public safety.
Watch the video above to hear Karakatsanis explain what’s really to blame for the levels of violence and interpersonal harm in the US. He also reveals how the media – intentionally or not – obfuscates social problems, manufactures moral panics, and contributes to the enacting of repressive policy. And he explains what you can do to not be influenced by the “copaganda” in news stories.
You can click here to buy a copy of Karakatsanis’s book, Copaganda, and if you’ve already read it, feel free to share your review of it in the comments below! Be sure to check out the Zeteo book club for more book recommendations.
Paid subscribers can watch the full interview above to hear Karakatsanis describe the dynamics limiting the US imagination around what it means to have “public safety.”
Free subscribers can watch a 9-minute preview. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today to watch the full interview.
Check out other recent interviews with authors in Zeteo’s book club:
