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So what do you propose to do?
We've seen two years of less law and radically increasing lawlessness.
What, exactly, do you propose to do?
And how will whatever solution you propose help?
Be honest and precise.
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Ok. First. We have polygraph testing for police. In order to maintain their powers as police they go on the box every six months. There they have to pass with simple questions. Have you planted evidence. Have you seen anyone plant evidence. Have you lied on a report. Have you seen anyone.
If you can’t pass the test you aren’t arrested, but you aren’t headed out with a badge and gun. This will identify corrupt and abusive police within the shortest possible time. And in time it will make the police like the old Ivory soap commercial. 99 44/100% pure.
Bad cops would not be able to hide. Expecting Jake to lose his job to protect you is too much. Jake will tell on you because if Jake doesn’t at the very next time on the polygraph Jake knows he will be caught and out of a job.
Before you argue that is insane. We do it to people with Top Secret Clearances. They get put on the box. And isn’t it the Law and Order types who always argue that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?
Second. Actual investigations into use of force. Aircraft investigations examine every detail of every incident. This allows every facet to be known and every lesson to be learned. This helps prevent further errors in the future.
An example.
Now. From the time the suspect pulled the weapon I have zero issue with the police. They were danger close and believed the weapon was real. It was a justified shooting in my mind.
However. Lessons to be learned are far beyond that single part. They had the suspect contained in a well lit area. He was under control. Why not take him into custody then? Why not cuff and search him then? The entire shooting could have been avoided. Removing the suspect from a well lit area to a dark parking lot isn’t the smartest thing we’ve seen done.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from every incident. But we have to want to learn them. If the pistol had been real both cops could have died. Placing him in custody immediately and searching him right away is safer for everyone, including the cops.
Third. Cameras. Use the cameras. Use them. Study and show how the job can be done better. Better meaning safer for everyone. Strive to help the cops learn more all the time.
When the cameras were first introduced the initial study indicated that there was a more than 50% reduction in use of force incidents. The police claimed this was because the people were afraid of the cameras. The proponents of the cameras argued the cops behaved better on camera. I don’t care. I want the reduction and the video proof of what happened and who did what. It is the only way to get the truth.
Fourth. The Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights needs to be abolished. If the same laws that govern how every other individual is investigated are not fair for cops how are they fair for anyone? I’m not saying strip them of their Constitutional rights. I’m saying the cops don’t deserve special additional rights.
Finally. Accountability. We have to hold the police accountable. As an example. Chauvin had more than two dozen complaints. Many of them were upheld. In other words. He did the thing that he was accused of. Excessive force. He had multiple upheld complaints. But nothing was ever done to rectify the situation.
Imagine for a moment. Chauvin had been properly disciplined and received additional training to correct his behavior early on. If he continues to behave in that way, fire him. Because you don’t need someone who won’t play by the rules on your team.
If he wouldn’t change, he should have been fired. Instead he at most got a reprimand. A slap on the wrist while getting a pat on the back. Because the other cops thought he was doing a great job.
You have to be serious about upholding the standards. You have to be firm and fair in the implementation of the rules and requirements.
In Chauvin’s case, they swept it under the rug. And he never learned the lesson. If he had. Floyd might still be dead, but Chauvin wouldn’t be in prison. But because nobody got serious with holding Chauvin accountable, and his fellow cops cheered him and his behavior. It became habit. It worked out before, why not keep doing it? Instead of helping Chauvin, those folks all set him up for the big fall. And now Chauvin is spending what is almost certainly the rest of his life in prison.
www.toddstarnes.com
