F [ix] The Police

This isn’t another “the police are horrible” writings. These are from my gut thoughts that I believe will help make the police better equipped to serve and protect citizens.

Overhaul how officers are hired. The selection process is designed to weed out people but clearly it’s not enough. I don’t think we should allow military veterans to sign up to become police officers until a waiting period of 2–5 year with evaluations. It’s not known who may or may not have high stress levels or even PTSD and we can’t wait until it’s too late. Just because someone wasn’t in direct combat situations doesn’t mean they don’t have things to work out.

I don’t know what and how the police are trained now but it seems “pull your weapon” is something that’s drilled into their heads. Officers’ third response shouldn't be to pull their firearm to any situation unless they have a firearm pulled on them. No more “fear for their life” justification. Don’t expect me to praise officers when they run into the line of fire when they are scared of people during routine traffic stops. Let’s teach them pulling their gun is the last resort instead of the first, and that there are harsh consequences for shooting someone.

Community outreach is very important. This isn’t just some term to be thrown around as a buzz word, this is actionable things that every since department needs to engage in. It’s needs be taught from the first day of the academy. This is the “serve” part of serve and protect. Officers need to be taught how to talk and interact with citizens. The way officers speak to people doesn’t endear anyone into wanting to voluntarily speak with one. The point is people should feel relaxed when an officer is around.

Bring back real patrols. Not every officers can walk a beat but when then can they should. Smile at citizens, stop off in stores and get to know not just the owners/managers but whatever employee(s) are on duty. People should know local cops by name. If they can’t walk the beat drive through the neighborhood with the windows down and say hello to those they see. Park the car and talk with people, that opens them up to being willing to talk when something happens.

Create mandatory yearly psychological evaluations. One on one and group sessions where the officers are able to talk freely and get help and feedback from trained outside professionals and fellow officers who are with them out on the streets. Have cross department discussions, let all in a city know how things are going so all can hold and be held responsible.

Anytime an officer fires their gun or is even in a violent altercation with a citizen they should, within a week have to talk to the in house psychologist. This will help with accurate accounting of what was their state of mind in the moment and help them process what occurred.

I don’t think anything I’ve proposed is radical or outlandish. Something new has to be done if we want to close the division between the police and the public.