How to organize and reform the police in the US?

[Doctor Cringelord]

Most people can agree we probably need some form of police in the US. If we didn’t have police departments, organized crime, or worse, private departments run by corporations would likely take their place.

The question is how can they be reformed to better serve citizens, and how can corruption be minimized or ended? How do we get departments full of Frank Serpicos?

 

[Virtual ghost]

As the guy that lives in the area where police isn't any particular kind of a problem I will bite.


The main problem is that you can't have massive dysfunction all over the place and have a easy going police (that should pick up all the pieces). Since the current system is just a reaction or consequence of the whole system. The obvious red flag are gun laws: here guns are treated as heroin or worse. Therefore just carrying them around the streets would result in immediate arrest (that just about everyone would approve). If you are walking around with guns that means that you evidently have the desire/ability to shoot someone down the road. What means that police has to be better armed than average Joe, what then requires military level stuff. Therefore here you are immediately over the line in the start. Since from the start you have to behave as if you are dealing with armed and crazy people (since you probably will at some part of your day).



Another part of the equation are dysfunctional education and healthcare systems that create plenty of "problematic" people. Especially since crime may be needed just to cover the basic costs of living. While labor laws, food quality/security and TV program are also kinda the chunks of this equation as well. Therefore only when that is sorted out you can really start to change the police. Which simply has to deal with this large social mess and areas that are in the state of social collapse. Violent and armed people simply require not so nice police. Therefore until you remove what is creating all those people you can't fundamentally reform the police. Here it is normal/desirable to let your 8 year old walk into school on it's own while in US that simply looks as a bad idea. So you just have to start with the environment itself.

 

[ceecee]

Healthcare (M4A, universal, whatever) would make the job of cops far easier. Let's start with that.

Then maybe charging police that engage in criminal behavior instead of just firing them. Get rid of qualified immunity as at federal, state and local levels. Remove cop unions, Fraternal Order of Police and International Union of Police Associations from all union umbrellas. AFL-CIO in particular and the Teamsters that represent tens of thousands of police and corrections officers. This will significantly weaken their lobbying abilities - where do you think the Dept. of Defense 1033 program came from?

Start investing at the community level - health, education, children's wellbeing, the environment - water, air, soil - in communities and start charging entities that work against these points.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

no one has mentioned no-knock warrants yet. those need to go. states with stand your ground laws need to extend those to apply to people who shoot cops busting doors down in the middle of the night with no knock warrants.

 

[ceecee]

no one has mentioned no-knock warrants yet. those need to go. states with stand your ground laws need to extend those to apply to people who shoot cops busting doors down in the middle of the night with no knock warrants.

All for severely curtailing no-knock warrants. Judges that sign them should also face charges when people are injured or die (Breonna Taylor and similar). The difference I see is that I don't think they should be ended but if you hold everyone involved accountable, you will see them rarely. Agree on the stand your ground laws.

 

[RadicalDoubt]

Perhaps this is idealistic on my end, but I had a conversation and thought restructuring police education might be beneficial. A lot of trade based occupations have multi-year training programs and internships to get a person used to the job and the skillsets required as well as scholarship style things for those who desire to pursue such careers awarded with expectation of them staying within the trade for an allotted period. In addition to the training they already receive (which is relatively short in my opinion), perhaps it would be beneficial to make the police introduction and internship program between 2-4 years, where part of the time is spent shadowing other officers so that there is a background in experience and preparation for more volatile situations, another part is spent with whatever training they do now (which I assume relates to tool training, rule and standards memorization, and self defense), and another part is taking study based classes on criminal behavior, ethics, and psychology to learn about why people behave as they do and also provide techniques about how to deal with panic situations and their own emotions. Required seminars, if they aren't required already, as well as update classes similarly to those that teachers get intermediately through service might also be beneficial.

A lot of the police violence that isn't based around racism is very connected to impulse and fear and I find that people do a bit better when they can predict a situation and know how to respond to those who might not be in good health.

It may also be good to provide better counseling services for police, especially for those in areas more inclined to violence. The rate of spouse abuse from police is relatively high and police violence in general is not much better, so perhaps providing outlets to deal with that would help reduce instances of unnecessary aggression.

I guess people might not be happy because this is the reverse of defunding the police, but overtime I think the police at least in America have become something that they weren't expected to become when the system was initially established. As their role has changed, the structure needs to as well.