"DEFUND" THE POLICE? NO! REFORM, RE-ORGANIZE, FIX....

How to "fix" the police:

1. The first step in fixing any problem is.... find out what the problem is. Don't just assume that you know because you hold a position of authority. Seek out comments from everybody involved: both white and black and other race police officers, including long time officers and relative rookies, including officers from every unit- traffic, investigations, drug unit, gang unit, internal affairs, and officers of every rank. Give them anonymity. Also, seek input from prosecutors; defense attorneys; and judges. Seek input from persons in every part of the community, of every race, every socioeconomic status. Seek input from persons who have been crime victims of every kind of crime; burglary, robbery, theft, sexual assault, domestic violence, aggravated assault, families of murder victims, persons impacted by the sale or use of illegal drugs. Seek input from persons- including persons currently in jail- who have been charged with every kind of crime.

Then get some competent people- which I think should include volunteers who are actual experts, not highly paid outside consultants, to analyze the data.

2. However, even before the data comes in, I have suggestions from my viewpoint as an attorney who is from another State (Pennsylvania), educated elsewhere (Penn for undergrad, Duke Law), who has worked for an organization created to represent indigents in civil cases (Georgia Legal Services, Programs, Inc.), who has represented criminal defendants for over 42 years, represented persons who were victims of crimes, and, most pertinently, represented persons who were injured, either physically or otherwise (that includes false arrest) through actions of local law enforcement. I also raised a son here who went through the public schools and graduated from Westover, then received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy.

3. Here are some:

(1) Collect and maintain data on all interactions of law enforcement with the public, regardess of whether or not criminal charges are brought. If there's a traffic stop, the name, age, race, and gender of the driver, the make and model of the car (was it an expensive BMW being driven by a black man in a white neighborhood, stopped for no good reason? Or a legitimate traffic stop?). This includes interactions on the street. And make this data (other than the names of the individuals) freely available to the public on a website- don't make us have to make a separate Open Records Request.

(2) Collect and maintain data- the same as above- for every arrest made. In addition to the above, include the disposition of the charges. If an officer is making a high percentage of arrests where the warrant is dismissed or the indictment is nolle prosequi (dismissed), there needs to be an investigation as to the competence of that officer and whether he or she needs to remain on the force. And for every single case made by an officer, there should be a comment card given out to the prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge, to note any praise or concerns. And this data should be made public, again on the website, with the officers' names, rank, and any internal discipline imposed or commendations awarded.

(3) Pay them more money. A lot more. You can take some jobs away from police, including disbanding the drug unit to save money, and having a traffic unit that handles tickets that does not include P.O.S.T. certified officers, and pay the officers involved with crime investigation and crime prevention a whole lot more. Whatever the pay is, it should be significantly higher than other local jurisdictions with fewer resources are paying.

(4) By the same token, since you are paying them more, require more. Require at the very least a bachelors degree for all rookie officers and an advanced degree (i.e. a masters in criminal justice) for all officers of supervisory rank.

(5) Since you are paying them more and requiring more, make all disciplinary actions public, regardless of outcome. Include the original written complaint. All such discipline will be adjudicated by a three person panel to include at least one lawyer with criminal defense experience, one member of the public, and one retired police officer with impeccable credentials and a reputation for impartiality (no "Blue Wall", in other words).

(6) Make sure that there are regular "audits" by a committee appointed by the City Commission to ensure that the above are being enforced.

(7) Get officers out of vehicles and on foot or on bicycles in their assigned neighborhoods. Make sure that they don't rotate neighborhoods too frequently- give them time to know and be known by the people in the neighborhood. Have them regularly participate in neighborhood activities- with pay- including promoting things like street festivals.

(8) End all qualified immunity for civil lawsuits. I'm not going to go into all of the details of this sometimes very complicated defense of a police officer sued for civil rights violations; suffice it to say that many if not most officers walk away unscathed even when they have very obviously (to the average person) harmed a civilian without justification. I have called it the police equivalent of "every dog gets one free bite" rule in ordinary tort law. A local municipality can't get rid of the doctrine- but the doctrine of "qualified immunity" is an affirmative defense to a lawsuit that has to be raised by the defense in order for a judge to throw out a lawsuit on that basis. So any municipality can simply say it will no longer raise that defense until the day comes when Congress actually makes that the law of the land. As a matter of practice, when I win or settle the lawsuit the individual officer never pays a dime anyway- not for the lawyer(s) defending the suit, not in the damages paid to the injured party. That's all paid by the agency for whom the officer works. We should formalize that as a matter of national law by Congress and allow what is called "respondeat superior" liability, meaning that the employer, in this case, the City, would be 100% liable for the wrongs committed by its employee.

(9) I know this last one is controversial and can't be accomplished locally: decriminalize all drug possession offenses and treat it as a public health problem. Provide addicts with their drug of choice free of charge- but they can only use it by going into "Door A" in a large building next to the hospital. "Door B" is drug treatment to get off drugs. Each has to be free. Devoting resources to this will save 10 times as much- 100 times as much- as we currently spend in the absurd "War on Drugs." And this will obviate the need for "no knock" warrants, 99% of which are used on drug raids. And it will end the practice of searching cars of black motorists after a traffic stop.

The above was all written off the top of my head at one sitting. It's likely I left something out, but anybody who has a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.