It's been about a year since the murder of George Floyd In LA County, Black people are just 8% of the population, but 27% were injured or killed by police according to the Department of Justice.

Hello, I'm Bonnie Boswell and today we're starting a 4-Part series on Policing in America and there's no one better to explain the problems and solutions around this than my guest, Connie Rice.

Connie is a former member of President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing Connie, what is the history of racism and policing?

Police, in this country, are asked to carry out a mission that descends directly from the control and containment strategies of the origins of policing on the slave plantations So, officers today are going into dangerous neighborhoods You can buy a gun faster than you can buy a loaf of bread.

Officers complain to me all the time, "This search and destroy policing destroys me."

When you find a solution that goes after improving the health and safety of a community, then you're on to changing the mission which will change the mindset of the cops.

So it's a whole of society, whole of community public health safety mission.

and when you make that the mission, Bonnie, the killings by police plummet.

I think the incentives are a critical thing to look at.

A cop is going to tell you, "I'm getting promoted for the number of arrests, not the accuracy of arrests."

What we want is the mindset of the Guardian Healthcare Cop.

The police that I've worked with the community leaders I've worked with we made a team that has guardianship and improving the conditions that create th e despair, the violence, and the crime.

Thank you, Connie Rice, for being my guest today We'll have more of my interview with Connie next week as we continue our series "Policing America" For PBS SoCal, I'm Bonnie Boswell.