Template:Short description De-policing is a term for police disengaging from active police work, generally as a reaction to external scrutiny or negative publicity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A form of work slowdown, de-policing represents a de facto police strike, in which the police withdraw an aspect of their crime prevention services.Template:Citation needed It is a practical police protest at perceived political interference in their day-to-day task of policing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Conservative author Heather Mac Donald offered another interpretation for the term "de-policing". In her book The War on Cops,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> she used the term as the antithesis for pro-active policing in general. In the light of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York and criticism of "broken windows" policing,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> MacDonald used the term de-policing to describe the NYPD's policy of backing away from actively pursuing stop-and-frisk procedures as a primary method of crime prevention.
According to a 2019 study, there is no evidence that de-policing contributes to city homicide rates.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A 2017 FBI study suggested that law enforcement felt a "chill wind" after several high-profile police killings in recent years—especially the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The study noted the stance of politicians, the media, and the broader social movement making people feel that it was acceptable "to challenge and discredit law enforcement actions"; and proposed that these circumstances have demoralized police officers and led them to do less on the job.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a 2017 survey by Pew Research Center, 86% of police officers said they believed that police killings of African Americans had made policing more difficult.<ref name=":0" />
Recent court decisions like Ligon<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Floyd<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> have also contributedTemplate:HowTemplate:Clarify to the atmosphere of de-policing in many American cities, but particularly New York City.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Cities like Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland have been similarly affected due to what is perceived as unfair and aggressive policing in minority communities.Template:Cn
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- Racial profiling is confirmed: Police face new rules on ticketing, The Boston Globe, May 4, 2004, by Bill Dedman.
- NIGHTLINE: AMERICA IN BLACK & WHITE: DE-POLICING: 07/23/2001