A New York Times analysis of after-action reports by outside investigators, watchdogs and consultants tasked with reviewing law enforcement’s response to the nationwide protests that took place after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police found a common theme the paper described as “insufficient training and militarized responses,” and “a widespread failure in policing nationwide.”

“In city after city, the reports are a damning indictment of police forces that were poorly trained, heavily militarized and stunningly unprepared for the possibility that large numbers of people would surge into the streets, moved by the graphic images of Mr. Floyd’s death under a police officer’s knee,” the Times review says.

Almost every report, which included those material from New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, and six other cities, emphasized a need for better training for cops in how to handle large protests. The reports also concluded that police departments needed to collaborate more effectively with community organizers, local activists, and civil rights attorneys; that officers need better training to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations; and that police commanders need to develop tighter restrictions and increase supervision over the use of non-lethal crowd control weapons such as tear gas.