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Slang Epistemologies: The Reliability of Police Expertise in Criminal Trials
Trial judges too often defer to police expert testimony without fully assessing its reliability. Cases involving so-called “street” language illustrate this trend. Limited scrutiny allows police officers to act as translators and cultural experts on the communities they police. This can lead to the admission of untested and stereotypical observations presented as neutral facts. The result is a form of epistemic injustice, in which the knowledge and lived experiences of marginalized communities are obscured and racial bias is treated as credible legal evidence.