The authors of “Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It” will be the guests at the next Conversations on Race and Policing, set for noon Monday, Feb. 5, on Zoom.

The program, “In Conversation with Jay D. Aronson (Ph.D.) and Roger A. Mitchell (M.D.),” is free and open to the public and can be accessed from a PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at https://tinyurl.com/csusb-race-policing.

“Death in Custody” shares the stories of individuals who died in the custody of law enforcement officers, “and chronicles the efforts of activists and journalists to uncover the true scope of deaths in custody,” according to the publisher’s webpage.

Aronson is the founder and director of the Center for Human Rights Science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he is a professor of science, technology, and society in the history department. He is the author of “Who Owns the Dead? The Science and Politics of Death at Ground Zero” and “Genetic Witness: Science, Law, and Controversy in the Making of DNA Profiling.”

Mitchell is a professor and chair of pathology at the Howard University College of Medicine. He is a forensic pathologist who previously served as the chief medical examiner and deputy mayor for Public Safety and Justice of Washington, D.C. He is the author of “The Price of Freedom: A Son’s Journey.”

Conversations on Race and Policing began after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and its aftermath. It was the death of Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer that sparked widespread protests, calls for reform and revamping of the nation’s policing system, difficult and hard conversations on race and racism – and gave birth to Cal State San Bernardino’s Conversations on Race and Policing, also known as CoRP.

In subsequent court cases, three other former Minneapolis police officers implicated in Floyd’s death were given prison sentences.

The series has featured scholars, journalists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, activists, artists, educators, administrators and others from throughout the nation who shared their experience and expertise on issues related to race and policing.

One hundred forums have taken place since, and video recordings of the sessions are posted online on the Conversations on Race and Policing Lecture Series Archive. 

Upcoming programs, which will all take place at noon on Zoom, include:

The series is organized by Matt Patino (CSUSB M.A. candidate); CSUSB faculty members Mary Texeira (sociology) and Jeremy Murray (history); Robie Madrigal, public affairs/communication specialist for the CSUSB John M. Pfau Library; Michael German, fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice; and community member Stan Futch, president of the Westside Action Group.

For more information, contact Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.

Also visit the Conversations on Race and Policing webpage.