It is clear from recent events, that a sector of the American public is not satisfied with the way law enforcement approaches its responsibilities. Is there a large "silent majority" that is ok with the status quo? Polls show otherwise, but we will see how people vote in the upcoming elections. One statistic that no one can question is that the US has by far the largest number of police shootings in the world. One term that needs to be clarified is "defund law enforcement" . It is a terrible depiction of what people are really talking about. It is simply a re-prioritization of resources to better suit what the public expects from law enforcement. At a minimum it should include the following:
Federal Level:
Stop the transfer of excess military equipment to law enforcement
End law enforcement's qualified immunity
Decriminalize drug offenses
Local Level:
Ban chokeholds
Ban use of rubber bullets and dispersants
Reallocate law enforcement funding to social services
Decriminalize drug offenses
Rewrite union contracts
Publish names of officers that have been disciplined
Rewrite hiring and screening procedures to screen out sociopaths
We Are Hiring And Training The Wrong People
If you were to ask most people what sort of background a potential police officer should have, most would say military training, or a criminal justice degree. That's the problem. These are the last sorts of people we should want in a "revamped" public safety organization. These are the sorts of dopes we have now…why would we continue hiring these sorts of people? Anyone can be trained to be a police officer. You cannot train a sociopath….to not be a sociopath. In fact, the first question that should be asked during a law enforcement hiring interview is "why do you want to be in law enforcement?" If the answer is "uh….I really need a job and you are the only guys hiring." Perfect candidate. They can be trained. If the answer is "I'm prior service and it includes two marksmanship medals." "Uh….no…thank you for your interest. I think Home Depot is hiring. You might check there." Next step would be a sophisticated psychological test to weed out the racists and sociopaths. Then train them.
Tweedle Dee And Tweedle Dumb Ass
How much of the above do you think creepy Joe and bone spurs would agree with? Not much I imagine. CJ's support of crime bills in the '90's resulted in the massive incarceration problem we still have today. Crack cocaine prison terms were 10 times greater than an equal amount of powder cocaine possession. Hmmm. So frat boys are throwing parties at will and inner city "drug dens" have SWAT breaking down the doors. Was there a reduction of crime in some of the inner cities? Sure. At a cost. I suppose people that thought that was worth it would also support Mussolini because he got the trains to run on time. Or Duterte…because he "cleaned up Manila." I guess 100,000 extrajudicial killings will do that. Or Rudy "Big Head" Giuliani and his "stop and frisk" policies that "cleaned up" New York City. I suppose in the short run these policies have had some sort of effect. However, we are now dealing with 30 years of poor decisions in the criminal justice system and the banshees have come to roost.