In 2020, it’s become pretty clear to many people that police departments across the country, as they’ve been operating for the past 30+ years, have significant problems and these problems cannot simply be attributed to “a few bad apples.” The problems we have are endemic and systemic, including racist policies regarding “The War on Drugs” enforcement (& to be fair, the problems extend through all levels of criminal justice, not just police).
I’ve been racking my brains for how to approach police reform in a way that is meaningful without resorting to “Defund” or “Abolish” the police ideas, which I think are politically infeasible (too little public support) and, moreover, would be pointless to raise to police leadership.
The police are, to some extent, agents of chaos (see my last post), with common use of excessive: force, arrests, stops, seizures, escalation of conflict; most often focused on racial minorities & vulnerable populations. This is true despite the prevalence of well-meaning individuals (aka “good people”) within the police force.
How to transform the police into superheroes for good (in the immediate future)? Here’s my outline (and prototype of suggestions that could be shared with city/state and police leadership):
