At a local level, prosecutors depend on the continued cooperation of police to show results in their job, so there’s a massive conflict of interest in criminal

At a local level, prosecutors depend on the continued cooperation of police to show results in their job, so there’s a massive conflict of interest in criminal accountability in all but the most egregious cases. And whatever extent that higher-level prosecutions prove a deterrent (to say nothing of the fact that in many cases they may not have standing)… as long as minority families have to have The Talk with their kids, it is not a sufficient deterrent. Having paths towards civil accountability is vital, but they are essentially nonexistent.