A Call to Action and Police Reform
I have not been vocal enough regarding the plight of our African American and other minority brothers and sisters. The murder of George Floyd is an outrage and sad commentary on the brokenness of our nation. To that end, I call for politicians to institute a series of major, sweeping reforms of how policing is done in the United States. I call for the following to be enacted by all governmental bodies able to do so:
Remove all federal funding from local law enforcement, from the smallest communities up to and including state police departments. We have the National Guard and other military forces for a reason.
Remove military gear such as tanks from the possession of all non-federal and non-military law enforcement personnel and departments.
Eliminate police unions.
Force all officers to re-apply for their jobs. Officers failing to meet certain standards based upon number of complaints and abuses of authority would be refused. All those who would be hired as police officers in the future force of America would be required to score higher on passion for justice, empathy, and compassion, and lower on raw aggression. Men and women who are moved to see justice in their communities would be more likely to act in an aggressive manner when a situation truly calls for it, rather than triggering like a rabid guard dog when someone does something they feel questions their special position of trust and authority, such as when 75 year old peace activist Martin Gugino approached officers to speak with them only to be pushed to the ground hard enough to cause bleeding from his ears.
Institute a publicly-accessible national database of performance records for every police officer, to include all information regarding complaints, commendations, investigations, and outcomes/findings of same.
Institute a policy of officer reviews. All officers would be required to undergo an official review in public hearing format no less than twice per year, presided over by an actual judge, elected by the populace, who would determine the fitness of the officer to continue duty, recommend retraining, or order removal from service to the department. Every individual who either commended or complained against the officer within the previous 6 months would be notified by mail of said hearing. The announcement of the hearing would also be posted publicly, accompanied by a photo, the last name, and badge I.D. of the officer being reviewed. At the hearing, all members of the community would be welcome to speak regarding the officer’s performance after a public review of their personnel file by the officer’s immediate superior. No officer would be permitted to transfer, receive a raise, promotion or other beneficial personnel action, or leave for another law enforcement job or department elsewhere without having passed such a community review within the 30 days immediately preceding such action. Conversely, apart from responding to unlawful actions on the part of the officer, no negative personnel actions could be taken against him/her without a community hearing.
Ban the use of all identification technologies, like facial recognition, which do not have a greater than 99.9% success rate in experiments using a vast number of participants in real world situations regardless of race, color, gender, ethnicity, time of day, quality of light, and weather conditions. Prohibit police from responding to any such positive identification when solutions are used unless two or three methods of identification confirm a suspect’s identity.
Institute a zero tolerance policy against officers who commit severe violations of citizens’ constitutional and civil rights and a three-strikes-and-you’re-out policy against substantial but lesser violations of same. Ensure that officers who break the law are not held to be above the law as they have been in the past. Examples must be made.
Require working body cams for all officers on duty. If an officer’s camera is not functioning, he or she must not go out on patrol. Body camera video must be stored for a minimum of six months. Independent oversight committees should be established to review officer records, complaints, and camera recordings. Questionable video evidence should be brought to the attention of those attending an officer’s public community hearing/review. Missing camera recordings should be considered a mark against an officer’s performance record. A number of such missing files should be considered cause to examine an officer’s performance more closely.
In all decisions regarding policing and police reform from this time onward, the outcomes must be motivated by both transparency and public accountability if we are to heal this nation.
Since the Second Amendment to the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, place that right in its proper context and require all citizens who wish to bear arms to participate in “a well regulated Militia” to help with community policing. This service should be for a period of years, but grant to all participating citizens a lifetime right to bear said arms. Anyone dishonorably removed or otherwise removed for moral or mental failings from said community militia would lose their franchise and thus their right. All honorably discharged veterans from all branches of service, including this militia, would retain the right to bear arms and be able to purchase firearms so long as their mental health wellness meets a reasonable level of soundness. The Second Amendment should no longer be taken out of context in the way that it has been. No former police officer found unfit for duty for any reason would be allowed to participate in any other law enforcement or peacekeeping role.
Route the monies previously given to police departments and law enforcement agencies into community improvements, aids, reliefs, and assistance. Ensure that EVERY American has the opportunity to have a decent income, hope for a better future, healthcare, food and other basic needs met, including free higher education, high speed internet access, and credit/identity security reforms (free access to one’s credit score should be every American’s right). When the poorest of us does well, all of us will do well. Crime will greatly decrease and peace will be the norm when all these reforms come to fruition.
Furthermore, in response to their refusal to convict Donald Trump of impeachment when they had the opportunity, I am calling for all God-fearing Christians of integrity to denounce the Republican party and vote them all out of office in November. All those who put these people in power are responsible for their actions. You see what they’ve wrought with the power given them. Do not be misled anymore. When we stand before God we will all give an account for our choices and actions in this life. Help us to make America truly great for all peoples for once, and not just for the privileged, happy few. Maybe with these changes, policing can shift its focus away from beating down law-abiding citizens who happen to be black or some other minority and truly targeting the monsters hiding behind privilege and secrecy from whom the ever-growing tide of child pornography is flooding the world.
Policing is a sacred duty before God. The Bible says that God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. The words translated “work” and “take care of” could also be translated, according to Strong’s, as “serve” and “protect.” But the way these police have been serving and protecting all the citizens of these United States does not honor God. Rather, it causes many to curse His name. Please, join with me in demanding a change from our representatives. Government exists to ensure that the things we do better as a group get done properly. It is time we expect as much from our leaders. And if they will not lead in the direction we must go, then we must direct them to other roles while we replace them with those who will.