This is a question I've pondered for some time now and I think there are some steps (some easy, some difficult) which will help.

I know my audience so I'm expecting a number of "nothing will change until the entire racist power structure is overthrown" responses, and I don't necessarily disagree, but ideally this post is more about evolutionary, not revolutionary changes.

There are a whole lot of (political, racial, etc.) reasons police don't get prosecuted effectively, but I think the most important one is that on a day to day basis police and prosecutors work pretty closely together.

Put differently, prosecutors are in complete reliance on police to make their cases and get their convictions. It's something of a symbiotic relationship.

That's why my #1 solution is an independent state office of police prosecution that a) relies on investigators that are completely distinct from day to day police operations and b) relies on prosecutors who ONLY prosecute police.

If we remove the relationship between prosecutors and police to the greatest extent possible, i think we remove a huge disincentive that prosecutors currently have in going after police.

That's my most positive contribution to a solution and I'm happy to hear criticisms of that idea and hopefully a number of other ideas that could potentially be put in place to curb this problem.

i still blame hip-hop.