Mothers Against Police Brutality

Collette Flanagan founded Mothers Against Police Brutality after her son, Clinton Allen, was killed by  Dallas police. Clinton, a 25-year-old Black father of twin sons, was unarmed the night in March 2013 when he was shot to death by a Dallas police officer, 7 shots, one at close range in the back. The officer was never held accountable in criminal or civil court. Collette established MAPB in memory of her son and of others who have lost their lives to police violence. MAPB is based in Dallas, working with local civil rights lawyers and community groups for greater accountability in police use of force. MAPB successfully advocated for creation of a special unit within the District Attorney’s office to investigate officer involved shootings; in 2017 this unit brought the first indictment in a fatal police shooting in more than four decades. MAPB also organizes for change nationally, today in 10 different U.S. cities through its Fellowship Legacy Program. MAPB has taken the crisis of deadly police violence in America to the United Nations, working with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.N. Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER), and with international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the UN Anti-Racism Coalition (UNARC). EMLER was established as a result of the advocacy of a coalition of NGOs, including MAPB, in 2021. In 2022, Ms. Flanagan was invited to address the full United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. In 2023, MAPB worked with UNARC to organize public hearings in Atlanta and other U.S. cities, where directly impacted families presented testimony to a panel of EMLER’s experts. Now entering its second decade, MAPB is a growing force for positive change through in-depth research, innovative and sustained action, and effective policy advocacy to protect human rights in all aspects of law enforcement.