Needed Police Reform That Is Not Discussed

 There is a need for police reform. This will not happen if the conversation about policing cannot move beyond racial politics, self serving agendas, and the sensational. 

There is a problem in society with violence. This includes gang violence, violence from bullies, violent psychopaths, domestic violence, drug war violence, child abuse, school violence and more. Bad policing adds to violence, but is nowhere comparable to the violence that results from no policing. 

There are violent people that bully and abuse others because they can get away with it, especially when there is no one to stand up to them. Police must be a force for good that reduces violence and that stands up against abusers and bullies without being abusers or bullies themselves. Good policing brings out the best in cops as public servants and reduces violence. Bad policing brings out the worst and adds to violence. 

Numbers game policing must end for good, in which police are pressured to generate meaningless statistics, including for arrests. This opens the door to poor policing and police misconduct. 

Police work must return to the basics, especially in high crime urban areas. This means serving and protecting through patrol, including patrol that is not only vehicular. Cops walking beats where they become part of neighborhoods is true community policing, not the convoluted nonsense that is being passed off as community policing. 

Police departments must rid themselves of cronyism, political favoritism, clout, layer upon layer of bureaucrats and overlapping and unnecessary supervisors and brass. Law enforcement personal from the top on down belong on the streets as much as possible, not in offices pushing around papers or engaging in endless conversations. Police work must be lean and mean in a good way - in which law enforcement returns to its bread and butter mission-  serve and protect through patrol.

The use of 911, or emergency communications, must change. Too many people abuse the 911 system in order for police to harass someone they do not like, or whose appearance they do not like, and not because they suspect criminal activity or that someone's safety is jeopardized. There needs to be better guidelines regarding screening 911 calls, and consequences for those that misuse the 911 system.

Police and deputies that respond to 911 calls must be trained to understand that people do not give up their constitutional rights just because someone called 911. 

Police and deputies need to understand what are people's constitutional rights. If they cannot understand what are these rights, they do not deserve to be police. Police and deputies need to understand what are lawful searches and stops. They need to understand that because someone refuses to answer questions, or refuses to provide an id when not lawfully required to do so, it does not give police or deputies the right to trample on that person's constitutional rights. Too many cops and deputies do not understand what are constitutional rights, and what are the limits and scopes of their police authority.

If cops or deputies are thinned skinned, and cannot handle hostility or rejection, they should not be on the job. Too many cops and deputies take offense at attitudes they do not like, failing to understand that this does not free the cop or deputy of their duty to be professional. A person's bad attitude in and of itself does not constitute a crime.

No cop or deputy should enforce laws that do not exist, or stop or arrest someone under false pretenses or made up reasons. Cops must be professional. They must know the laws. They must understand the constitutional rights of each person. They must never exceed their lawful authority. 

Good cops know how to deescalate situations that need to be deescalated. Good cops know when to escalate situations that require escalation. Good cops know the difference between situations that require escalation, and situations that require de-escalation. Good cops can be empathic when needed. There are other situations that require cops to be firm and tough, which includes at times the lawful use of force. Not enough cops and deputies know how to deescalate situations that require de-escalation, how to escalate situations that require escalation, and how to differentiate between the two.  

Cops that work high crime areas will eventually encounter violent people and violent situations. If cops  are neutered and nothing more than armed secretaries riding around in vehicles, then the only ones that win are cops that are lazy to begin with, and criminals and violent people. Good cops need to be supported. There are predatory attorneys looking for any excuse to sue police. There are supervisors that are unscrupulous, vindictive, petty and sadistic, looking for any reason to harm a good cop they personally dislike, including by making false accusations and complaints. False and fraudulent accusations and complaints come from not only criminals that want to get a good cop fired or off of their back. Contrary to public opinion, cops are held to higher standards than the general public. Police careers have been ruined by false accusations that would not harm civilian careers. 

Police work is an honorable profession. It requires police to be more than armed secretaries. It does not need hotheads, bullies that throw their weight around, passive people that cannot control difficult situations, abusive supervisors, vindictive people or anything else that is not professional. Police work must be professional. This means ending numbers game police work. It means ending cronyism and inefficiency wherever it exists. It means streamlining police work and getting back to the basic mission of serve and protect through patrol, which must not be only vehicular in many areas. It means reforming the 911 system, including what calls are accepted and how police respond to those calls. 

Police training is too often falsely blamed for poor policing. Even if cops were poorly trained for some reason, they will be better cops if they are decent human beings that can compose themselves in volatile and stressful situations than cops than are highly trained but that are bullies. Much of what cops will learn and need to know will come from their actual experiences on the streets. Police are not children when they are hired. If they already lack a proper moral code by the time they are hired, no amount of training will change that. Once on the streets, bad cops will do better in police departments that reward bad behavior, such as numbers game policing, whereas good cops will do better in professional police departments free of cronyism, political favoritism, clout, vindictive, petty and abusive supervisors, and that do not have numbers game policing.  

A more lengthy and serious discussion is needed. Real police reform will not happen as long as the discussion continues to not be had, and the focus remains on self serving agendas and the sensational.