gonna go stand in front of the refrigerator. goodnight. this is "nightline." >> tonight, race and policing. >> hands up high in the air. face away from us. walk to the sidewalk. >> the abc news investigation revealing startling statistics on black americans. >> i felt very disrespected because of my skin color. >> and how one cop navigates the tensions of being black and blue. >> there's a flawed criminal justice system, and so we have to start all over again. >> plus, leading voices. the exclusive circle of black female mayors overseeing some of the biggest cities in the country. facing turmoil and how their leadership is shaping the future of america. >> night le"nightline" starts r with byron pitts. >> good evening, thank you for

joining us. tonight, policing in america under the microscope. the abc investigation in partnership with stations across the country, finding a wide disparity in arrests between black and white americans. here's abc's chief justice correspondent, pierre thomas. >> just the remembrance of everything that happened here, it's not sk i like to think about often. >> reporter: on this busy suburban road, he remembers a moment he'd rather forget. >> in the back seat. i need you to step out of the car with your hands up. >> reporter: nearly two years ago, he was ride being in the back seat of his white grandmother's car when they were pulled over by police, and he was ordered out of the car. >> that was one of probably the most difficult moments of my life. because i wanted to act out like why are you doing this to my grandma. >> that's your grandson? stop, get down on your knees. on your knees.

put your hands up. doesn't move. do you understand? >> reporter: guns drawn, he was handcuffed, detained and forced in the back seat of a squad car. the police in this milwaukee suburb said they were looking for a carjacking suspect. >> at that point i thought i was going to go to jail for nothing. >> reporter: when the police officers are tweeting you that way, there's a feeling of frustration and disrespect, did you feel that? i've felt that before. >> yes, i feel if i was white it would have been completely different. being a black, six-foot man in america i'm a threat. >> reporter: the trauma from that moment haunts him like many other african-americans. >> i feel like i was being hunted in a sense. like somebody, i felt like they were out hunting me. >> why are you trying to choke his neck? >> reporter: in tulsa, this encounter, caught on tape of white officers stopping black teens for jaywalking on a seemingly quiet suburban road

with no sidewalks. it's now sparked an intrnl investigation into whether the tactics were too aggressive. in the wake of george floyd's death, videos like these laying bare the brutality many have faced at the hands of police, sometimes in the most routine of encounters, the nation where black americans are far more likely to be arrested than white americans. the abc investigation in partnership with our own stations looking at reports to the fbi revealing startling statistics. in 800 jurisdictions, black people were arrested at a rate five times higher than white people in 2018. when accounting for the racial makeup of the cities and the counties those police serve. in 250 localities, blacks were ten times more likely to be arrested than white counter parts. >> if you are telling me people are ten times more likely to be arrested being black than white

in these jurisdictions, i'm telling you there's no way you know whence the system. education, housing, wealth equivalent or police. in reality, it's for sure some portion of all of those. what part of that do you want to lay at the feet of police? see, police outcomes are a really important indicator of what's wrong in society. because every arrest is a social failure. >> reporter: with the death of mr. floyd across america the specter of racial bias looms. in this area, black people are 5% of the population but account for 60% of the arrests. are you surprised it's that prevalent, that people are targeted that enough by police? ? . >> i am, but i'm not. because my father was put in handcuffs when i was in an early

age. >> reporter: an experience no father should have in common with his son. >> it literally feels like my freedom isn't here, like i'm just a prisoner. i feel like you have no say, you have no nothing. >> reporter: he was released without being charged. he and his family have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the police department. the police department told abc news they cannot comment while the case is pending. the police captain williams navigates the tension between those who are black and those who wear blue every day. >> i thought about the institution of policing itself. and the fact that it originated from slave catchers. and really, as a police officer, what are we doing? we're catching people, and we're institutionalizing them. this is my own neighborhood. >> reporter: my colleague, juju chang first met her back in

2017. two years earlier, one of her colleagues had been convicted of fraud. but during his appeal, investigators stumbled upon racist and sexist texts between hem and other cops. shockingly they singled out one other officer, then sergeant williams. >> i was someone's black nb. it horrified me. >> reporter: the texts referred to black people as savages and animals. the department of justice had been assessing the san francisco police department in an october of 2016 it strongly recommended nearly 300 institutional changes. today, williams is still on the force. captain of the school resource officers. she knows change happens slowly. >> well, in respect to the officers that are upon for many of the things that have happened to me, there are a few that have still remained behind. >> reporter: the san francisco

police department told abc news they've met 61 of the doj reforms and over 150 more are in progress, including cutting use of force in half and lowering the number of officer-involved shootings, but according to data reviewed from 2018, though african-americans make up just 5% of the population here, they account for over 37% of the arrests and are six times more likely to be arrested than a white person. >> hearing the statistics as to the percentage of black people who are arrested, it's alarming. the pandemic of racism goes far beyond the police department. this is a universal problem. >> reporter: in her city, mayor london breed announced she would divert funds from the police department to the black community. in minneapolis, where george floyd died, african-americans make up just 19% of the total population but account for a whopping 63% of arrests.

police chiefs there faced with the possibility his department could be disbanded revealing they will no longer negotiate their contract with the police union and implementing real time technology. called to defund the police was a radical idea, now a national rallying cry. >> it doesn't just mean one thing to everybody. on one extreme are people who literally mean abolition. no more police. mostly what i hear is thinking about as right sizing the police. we want to get back to the police the resources they need, so there's less violence. that mental health goes through hospitals instead of badges and guns. >> reporter: there was a hearing yesterday on police practices and accountability. >> what we are seeing on the streets of the united states is a past-due notice for the unpaid

debts of black people for 400-plus years. >> reporter: where emotional testimony was heard from george floyd's brother. >> i get him back. he didn't deserve to die over $20. i'm asking you, is that what a black man is worth? $20? >> reporter: for captain williams, floyd's death and murder she calls it, weighs heavily on her. >> i felt, even though it want my knee that was on mr. floyd's neck, i still felt a sense of some responsibility. this momentum was long overdue. it's been 400 years since slavery. >> reporter: through slavery, jim crow, segregation, progress

made but so much pain endures. in the '60s, they declared "i am a man." now, "black lives matter." both unwavering in their call for justice. >> this is like a dream come true. all 50 states are protesting, beautiful, this should be a sign that people need to wake up. >> our thanks to pierre. up next, the black female mayors leading america. how they plan to move a country forward. that's why we're expanding your range of choices. many dealers now offer optional pick-up & delivery and at-home maintenance, as well as online shopping with home delivery and special finance arrangements. so, whether you visit your local dealer or prefer the comfort of home you can count on the very highest level of service. get 0% apr financing up to 36 months on most models, and 90-day first-payment deferral on any model.

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on the front lines of change in history, a small group of black female mayors leading america. earlier, linsey davis spoke to four of them. mayor muriel bowser, mayor bottoms of tmayor of washington. black mayors who run some of america's largest cities.

hows to your blackness make you uniquely positioned for such a tomb time as this? >> if there's ever been a moment since i've been mayor, i'm sure my sister mayors can agree with this, this is just a time to lead with our head and our heart and a pure place of caring concern. you get true compassionate leadership. >> reporter: i'm wondering if at this moment being a black woman puts you at increased scrutiny, if you feel like you're potentially going to be labeled with the angry black woman. if you have been subjected more to overt racism during this particular time. >> i'll start by saying we saw the president of the united states attack an american mayor, me, calling me incompetent, and i say frequently, female politicians are attacked more frequently and more wrongly than

anybody else. but i think that the difference that you're seeing now is there's a critical mass of us. and we have allies. >> reporter: it was d.c. mayor muriel bowser who had this bold message painted on 16th street leading up to the white house after peaceful protesters were forcibly removed by federal authorities for a presidential photo op. what are you hoping that people are going to take away from that? >> the president moved the united states army, troops from around the country to basically police fellow americans who were peacefully protesting. we were able to push them back from our street and back onto lafayette park. and when we reclaimed that space, we really wanted to be, it to be a space for healing, strategizing and peaceful protest. >> reporter: and mayors, i'm curious, what your initial response was when you saw this, this bold move, and if it's at all something that you might

consider doing in your own cities?? i sent mayor bowser a text and i said that was a boss, blank, blank move, because i was just so inspired by the boldness of it personally, just as a fellow mayor, because i could witness the frustration that she was having. and to be able to take that power back in such a symbolic way i thought was extremely important. >> yeah, i wholeheartedly agree. it was a bold move. it has caught attention, and i will tell you symbols do matter. >> reporter: black women have been the most reliable voting block since black women got the right to vote. black women make up 1% of the senate, why do you think black women are so underrepresented in these leadership roles? >> it's certainly incumbent upon us as african-american women to bring others to the forefront.

there are so many times that women feel that they don't have either the finances, the qualifications, the bandwidth and sometimes it just takes another sister encouraging them on the journey towards leadership and being involved in public service. >> black women who are elected are taking the national stage. and so black women are seeing black women. they have to see us doing it to know that's possible. i know having a black mayor elected by the city before me was encouraging. >> so often we are the last ones to see the power within ourselves. so we call it just doing what we do. but we don't always even know that the name of that is leadership. >> reporter: what about the protesters' calls to defund the police. is that really misunderstood? what's your response to the calls? >> i certainly would be in the camp of examining how we reform the police and make sure that our departments are serving the

needs of our communities. >> i don't have a plan to defund the police. i think we need the police. i think if you talk to black and white citizens in my city and in my parish, they would say we need our police, because we want to have a safe community. >> my anephew was murdered a fe years ago. we called upon the police to solve a murder, and ultimately, the arrest of the young men who killed him led to their conviction, and they're now sitting in prison. so our police officers should play an important part in our communities as a partnership. >> i think we need police. i get the reform. we have to do reform. and that's what i think we should be committed to, and then again, just looking at public safety overall. >> reporter: curious to get your take right now, the state of this country, this moment in time. if you feel and agree with those many women who created the campaign that vice president

biden must pick a black female as his running mate. >> i think it would be a good choice for him to do that. and there are certainly many qualified women who can step up to the plate and do the job. >>. >> reporter: some of them might be on this call right now. >> i was going to say, some of them very well may be on this call right now. >> lindsey, you took the words out of my mouth. you' you're absolutely right. present person excluded. but you are exactly right. >> we deserve not only a seat at the table but to be in leadership. >> reporter: mayors, ladies, sisters, i thank you so much for your time. we really appreciate you talking to us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you for having us. >> good to hear all your voices. >> our thanks to lindsey, we'll be right back. our gummies contain a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level

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and finally tonight, a development on a story we brought you yesterday on brionna taylor. a black woman in louisville, kentucky, shot and killed by police in her own home.

law enforcement never knocking before forcing themselves inside. today the city council unanimously passed brionna's law which places a total ban on no-knock warnltrants in the cit. that's all for "nightline." thanks for the company, america, good night. ♪ ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, ♪ ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, ♪ ♪ jimmy kimmel live this is ridiculous. >> jimmy: hello, and welcome. my name is jimmy kimmel. i host a talk show in my kitchen. which was previously something you might hear from someone with paranoia and delusions.