Olayemi Olurin Discusses Systemic Issues in Law Enforcement

Olayemi Olurin, Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society of New York City, talks about how our criminal system is ill-prepared to effectively address the problems of society. Society blindly depends on law enforcement to arrest and incarcerate people, which rarely addresses the real problems. The outcome is a never-ending cycle that traps poor and disadvantaged people in a system of repeated incarceration without hope of eventually recovering. Olayemi provides deep insight into this issue and offers a number of ideas designed to address the root of the problem rather than simply addressing the symptoms. She explains how “Defund the Police” is intended to address systemic issues in society that breaks the incarceration cycle and benefits everyone in the long run.

Olayemi Olurin is a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice in Queens, New York. She is also a writer.