Spitballing here . . .
- Get rid of qualified immunity. It's a pernicious doctrine by which a cop can get excused from liability in a civil rights lawsuit unless the illegality of their conduct was "already clearly established." So as long as you invent new and different ways of violating someone's civil rights, you're golden; just don't do the same thing someone else already lost a lawsuit for. Noted left-wing rag Reason has been writing a bit on this. Want conduct change? Open folks up to being liable for civil rights violations.
- Defang police unions. Guarding our society should be a privilege, not a right. Governments need to be able to toss bad actors from the force. Public sector unions in general need to be looked at with a jaundiced eye. Also, perhaps there needs to be some statewide licensing scheme to be an LEO that can be pulled in the event of misconduct. If you have to pass the bar to be a lawyer, or get licensed to practice medicine, perhaps you should need to be licensed to be a cop. A license that can be pulled in misconduct cases.
- Figure out what you need to pay officers to live in or near the communities they police and how to recruit from that population. Find out other ways to cut through "us vs. them." Police are supposed to be serving and protecting the voting public, not imposing law and order by force.
Nice spitball. In the strike zone but not quite down the middle. Some thoughts and and another couple spitballs.
It has to be mentioned that qualified immunity ONLY applies to civil suites, and only against the individual. You can still sue the state or city or feds. So if you win you still get the big bucks, And getting qualified immunity is not guaranteed at all. The defense argues for it and the plaintiff argues against. A judge decides. It isn't a boiler plate form you file and get a rubber stamp. And it is appealable so there is more than one look. Qualified immunity does not protect a cop from criminal prosecution. I'll say it again as some have missed it. The police answer to the same criminal laws as citizens. Their use of force must be justified. I can shoot a guy that I believe is a deadly threat, as can a cop.
Getting rid of qualified immunity has been debated for years. Interesting history, the theory goes way back to sovereign immunity and has some logic. Abolishing it isn't as easy as just deciding so. It is currently constitutional. SCOTUS would have to reverse themselves or at lease rein it in a lot. I suppose a state could just say they will not take advantage of the defense. I dunno. I am open to reform here. But too many folks think it is the change that will have cops convicted and jailed by the hundreds. They will be disappointed.
I am not for public unions but especially public safety unions. I'd support reining in influence where necessary. I have to say, in my state though, the unions have very little influence over anything relating to misconduct of their members. I bet it is more like here than NYC in most of the country.
Every state does have state certification. It is called Police Officer Standards and Training (POST). National standards are set and implemented at state level. Cops DO lose their certifications for misconduct. But, there is no nation wide data base of defrocked cops and the states don't automatically share the info. That should be a no brainer everyone should support. Some guys have lost certification and then gone to another state to go through their academy and get certified in that state. Not common, but does happen.
Living where you work used to be very common. My father was a police officer and was required to live in the city. The logic is sound, I think. But it isn't just the a matter of compensation. Truly, sadly, their are some places where you would not want to live or educate you kids if you had a choice. Sometimes, because you put a certain guy in jail, living where you work can compromise your family's safety. And just because you live in the same city, especially the bigger ones, doe snot mean you have any connection to the people you police. I could live 30 miles away in a $400,000 house and police in public projects. In the end, you build relationships on the job. You have 8-10 hours a day to do it.
Serving and PROTECTING often requires the imposition law by force. The debate is how LE uses force in what circumstances.
My spitballs: edit: I was writing when swanee posted.
Drastically reduce calls for service for mental health issues. If your son is busting up things in the house and talking about little green men, he isn't breaking the law. This is huge. Something Mrs Wink has tried to influence locally. A sizable number of calls turn out to be mental health and not threatening to anyone. If your son grabs a knife and you get out of the house. He isn't breaking the law as long as he stays in the house and doesn't threaten people. The cops have no need to make entry. Sit a car outside to make sure he doesn't run next door and stab the neighbors, call mental health pros to standby, and send mom and dad to a hotel. Lots a innovative ways to work this problem.
Suspected drug overdoses, man down in the street, that should be EMS. Send them first. They will call if it goes south. We don't send cops to every medical call EMS gets.
Improve comms and culture through CRM type programs. We are all familiar with it. Medical, Nuke power, Fire Service, Maritime, lots of industries now on board. If the airlines and the military can change the culture to encourage respectful assertiveness from juniors and open seniors and operational control personnel to be more participative and team oriented , LE can. CRM has gotten little notice in LE. Too many cops respect the operational control of the officer who's scene it is, or of a Sgt or Training Officer as if it isn't their job to help out. Sure, they got a partners back when the fists or bullets fly. But what about reminding a senior that a certain tactic is no longer approved, or that pursuit speeds are dangerous, or he should just calm the fuck down. They must learn that they share in the responsibility for a positive safe outcome.
More two officer patrol vehicles.