Collaboration with police divides social workers across US

CHICAGO (AP) — As high-profile police brutality cases have shaken the nation over this past year, many social workers remain divided over one important question: What should their relationship with law enforcement look like? Increased collaboration with police has support among the National Association of Social Workers and other social workers who say their work could reduce racism in policing and improve the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. But many social workers across the county disagree, saying more cooperation between social work and police risks further harming communities of color and ignoring the systemic racism that exists within the field itself.