Beyond Statutory Loopholes, Qualified Immunity, and Internal Investigations: A Comparative Analysis of Police Accountability in the United States and the United Kingdom

Authors

Kevyn McConlogue

First Page

301

Abstract

While the landscape of policing in the United States and United Kingdom appear different today, their shared roots of enslavement and racism fostered a culture of impunity for police officers in both countries. With community skepticism and public discontent with law enforcement continuing to rise in the United States, the investigative and procedural roadblocks in the way of holding police officers accountable for misconduct must come to an end. In an effort to facilitate conversations about progressive police reform and eventual abolition, this Note compares the modern American and British police accountability systems and the avenues through which victims of police brutality may hold their persecutors accountable. Through exploring various reforms implemented in the United Kingdom at both a national and local level, this Note encourages American policymakers to take notice of which proposed solutions may be viable in the United States. With the legitimacy of policing as an institution depreciating every year, it is time for a resolve of these issues based in community, not impunity.

Recommended Citation

Kevyn McConlogue, Beyond Statutory Loopholes, Qualified Immunity, and Internal Investigations: A Comparative Analysis of Police Accountability in the United States and the United Kingdom, 50 Brook. J. Int'l L. 301 (2025).
Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol50/iss2/7