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Class number:
2902
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Title: Policing and Human Rights |
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Department: Political Science |
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Career: Undergraduate |
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Component: Seminar |
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Session: Regular |
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Instructor's Permission Required: No |
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Grading Basis: Regular |
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Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 19 |
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Current enrollment: 17 |
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Available seats: 2 |
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Start date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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End date: Friday, May 8, 2026 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
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Schedule: MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM, SH - S205 |
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Instructor(s): Flom, Hernan |
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Prerequisite(s): None |
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Distribution Requirement: Meets Social Sciences Requirement |
Course Description:
Policing and human rights are deeply intertwined. On the one hand, policing necessary involves limitations on fundamental individual rights. On the other hand, policing can also preserve rights such as life, liberty and property. This tension is evident not just in authoritarian regimes, but also in modern democracies, where police frequently commit human rights abuses such as torture, intimidation, and summary executions. Ultimately, the form policing takes, and its implications for human rights, are political decisions. This course adopts a comparative perspective to explain what police do, how they do it and why. We will discuss police organization and culture, linkages between police, politicians, and organized crime, and the movement to reform, defund or abolish the police. |