Over-policing is just as much an issue in rural communities as urban ones, according to Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, investigative reporters for the Real News Network.
“It is really interesting because you know we see people think of policing as an urban issue, but we found through our reporting that in many small towns, police have an incredible amount of power in small communities, both economic and social,” Janis said while appearing on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
A report conducted by Janis and Graham found that the rural town of Milton, West Virginia, receives more than 30% of its operating budget from fines, with the city raising more than half a million dollars a year in penalties, despite a population of 2,500 people.
“What we have found over the past three years is that there is a practice of over=policing in rural areas and Milton, West Virginia, is just a microcosm of this,” Graham said while appearing on Hill.TV’s rising.
Janis said because of the lack of media attention on small cities, police can get away with and expand these activities.
Graham added there is an opportunity for social movements around the issues of police misconduct in smaller communities.
“When we think of violence we don’t think of economic violence and that’s what we are seeing in rural communities and I think there is some overlap here where people can band together for police reform and police accountability,” she said.
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