Baltimore, Ferguson, New York City, all have demonstrated deep seated hatred for the police among the population. And taking pot shots at the Dallas cops last week is hardly an advertisement for good police community relations. And yet, we need the police to protect us from the small number of ruthless criminals among us. Here is my list of things the cops ought to be doing to set things right.
1. Hire locally. Cops on a municipal force ought to be long time residents of the city. Long time means they attended elementary school and high school in the town. This gets you cops with some local roots, some local connections, who can reach out to old childhood friends in the community for tips and intelligence.
2. Get out of the squad car, and talk to people. Find out what's going down, who is who. Assign the same cops to the same neighborhoods day after day, to give 'em a chance to get to know people. Cases are solved by tips, and you need connections to get tips.
3. Police uniforms should be blue, not black. Only bad guys wear black.
4. Stop harassing innocent citizens and enforcing petty laws. Texas cops just busted a pair of seven year old girls for running a lemonade stand. Eric Garner died in New York when arrested for selling single cigarettes. Stop grabbing kids off the street just cause their parents let them out of doors for a few minutes. Legislatures and municipal governments ought repeal petty laws.
5. Organize and support youth activities, little league, youth soccer, scouting, after school activities, what ever. In addition to keeping kids busy after school, and hence out of trouble, it gives an opportunity to build relationships with kids. Kids grow up and turn into adult members of the community remarkably quickly.
6. Talk before you shoot. Call for backup. Remember the citizens hate it when one of their own is shot down by a cop. American cops kill more citizens than the cops anywhere else in the world.
7. Legalize pot. Nearly everyone smokes it now, it is not a violent crime, and busting people for smoking or possession of reasonable amounts is counter productive. It produces a life long bad attitude, makes the victim practically unemployable for the rest of his life, and fills expensive jail cells with non dangerous people. Legislatures take note.
8. Stop doing no-knock raids. Doing one can be a death sentence for someone. If the suspect has a gun, not unlikely, they will always open fire when they hear their door busting down. The cops will always shoot back. Mostly the suspect gets killed, occasionally the suspect can take a cop or two with him. But starting a gunfight in a citizen's home at zero dark thirty is not constitutional law enforcement.
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