Police Reform Ideas

ICPPUL > Police > Reform Ideas

  • An equal or greater amount of attention should be paid to improving the “fabric” of America, so that police receive fewer calls.
  • Efforts must be made to reduce the number of contacts the public has with police for minor or pretexutal reasons.  This is a rejection of the “broken windows” philosophy that police need to take draconian action to deter more significant crimes.
  • The reason why police abuse is such an issue is because of the ways bad police behavior exacerbates underlying problems and distrust in government.

 

(Some of these suggestions are from other sources)

  1. Instill in officers that laws are employed for a purpose and their job is to serve a larger good for the community. They should enforce the spirit of the law, not use the letter of the law or twisted version of the law to increase citations/arrests/generate revenue/power trip, etc.  Public officials must educate themselves on both what the actual law is and why the laws were made.
  2. End incentives to generate tickets and arrests. No fine/fee should be paid to an entity with a conflict of interest in generating the fine/fee. Instead of allowing police departments to pocket forfeited property, all proceeds must be assigned to cause that is unrelated and non-desirable, such, such as perhaps paying down the national debt.
  3. End private prisons as they create an incentive to generate new offenders. a disincentive for offenders to be released early for good behavior, a disincentive for rehabilitation, and a further incentive for repeat offenders.  Transitionary employment should be available so that prison guards are not incentivized to have their union lobby against decriminalization of marijuana.
  4. End/vastly reform qualified immunity.
  5. Cops should be legally required to verbally articulate certain information and answer certain questions. For example:
    1. Full name and badge/personnel number (Not say “right here”)
    2. Am I being detained/arrested?
    3. Full and clear explanation of reason for the action RAS (Reasonable Articulable Suspicion)/PC (Probable Cause) as well as
    4. the exact law being enforced.
      • There are some exceptions to this, like you don’t want to tip off a murderer that you know, but police should question what they are doing if their reason for withholding RAS is that their reason that the public will object to providing their license under a phony pre-textual RAS.
    5. The Incident or CAD number: Police refuse to give this to maintain Power Over
  6. The “modern policing” philosophies, such as “Broken Windows” or “Go Beyond the Ticket” needs to be ended or seriously re-examined.
  7. Police must be taught not to escalate minor issues into a major issue as part of a power tripping or revenue seeking.
  8. Create a Federal code to follow like US Military UCMJ “The Uniform Code of Military Justice has Article 93 Failure to report an offense.”
    This can be used to counter the police’s group “loyalty” that causes LEOs to overlook misconduct within the ranks.
  9. Strong disincentives should be made against police tactics to limit the transparency of both the government and the public’s recordings.
    One such police tactic I’ve heard of involves deliberately reporting violations in such a way it can not be falsified by the available recordings, such as deliberately fabricating charges that a vehicle had crossed a line on the ground because most citizens to not have cameras mounted near the ground and are therefor unable to prove that this didn’t happen.This should be solved by changing existing laws and incentives for prosecution, but it is noteworthy that body cameras can be gamed.
  10. All  (public non under cover) police should be required to carry business cards and provide them to the public on request.
    • Police should understand that because they act as agents of the government, they are subject to greater accountability (identification/transparency) than the public who are not acting “under color of law” and therefore are not often required to provide identification unless they have committed a crime (or are reasonably suspected) and therefore entitled to privacy.
    • Everyone who the police ask about ID must be given a card, with a link for independently evaluated feedback
  11. Replacing armed, revenue-generating police with unarmed response for many calls
  12. Recognize that one of the reasons for oppressive policing is to protect a system of high inequality by suppressing the underclass. (Taya Graham, Real News Network)
  13. I think one of the biggest issues in police training is that officers are trained to criminalize. They’re not taught case law and how the case law applies in situations. They’re taught to use laws to their advantage to criminalize and to “stay in control of situations” example is how this trooper used obstruction to arrest after ID refusal despite it not being lawful in this situation as well as it being a violation of the man’s 4th amendment
  14. If there a clear video evidence that the police has falsely cited a traffic/other violation, he or she should be put on the Brady list and no longer allowed to testify in court ever !
  15. Create a National counterpart to the Brady List, so LEO can’t just move and go to another city, county or state.  Yank their license.
  16. All incidents causing injury, especially lethal or requiring hospitalization, must be evaluated by independent outside Authority (federal perhaps)
  17. Tighten up the definitions of vague (and possibly unconstitutional) laws that are often used to “trump up” the charges such as “disorderly conduct”/interference/hindering  should be viewed with suspicion if the offending party is not someone other than the responding police officers themselves.
    This prevents people from being charged for incidents in which there was no underlying crime.
  18. Any participant in a police interaction should be able to receive a copy of all camera videos within 24 hours and of all police reports within 3 business days at no charge.  If the complete video is not furnished, the officers and department should be held in contempt of court and the court should assume the worst, barring extenuating circumstances.  The court must be given an unedited version (RAW file), although redacted copies may be used under the judge’s advisement.
    • Schrodinger’s footage: if it makes them look bad, or helps you out, it’s “missing”
  19. If there is no video footage or the audio is muted, the presumption should be against the government’s case, although the government’s case can prevail if they have other overwhelming evidence.   If there is a legitimate need to redact the information, the underlying audio should be saved and a separate redacted version generated from advisory marks by an independent person performing records requests.
    • Disincentives should be made for police muting their body cameras and then huddling up to have a conversation about an incident.
    • Redaction of body cameras should follow a procedure similar to other redaction processes.
  20. Establish review boards with citizens from the community on it that take complaints rather than an internal affairs investigation that is often reluctant to find wrongdoing. All members of the review board should have easy access to all dash/body cameras and all public feedback/complaints.
  21. Review boards and anyone involved with a police incident should be given immediate access to the videos at no charge.
  22. Disincentivize situations where police make charges that they will later drop, as part of a game to get leverage or justify their actions, especially when police use force.  Is it possible to imagine a scenario where police have the integrity to not cover-up improper use of force with phony charges?
  23. Police seem to be strongly incentivized to collect IDs for their paper work, even if they aren’t legally entitled to personally identifiable data. This leads to police behavior that violates the spirit of the 4th amendment.
    • Best Buy employees may claim that they “need” you to buy the extended warranty, but it is their problem, not yours. Police must not mislead the public that there is a legal requirement (such as saying I “need your ID”).  They can say “I’m asking for your ID.”
  24. Provide very strong punishments for officers who bear false witness, such as saying “stop resisting” when the suspect is not actually resisting or when they plant evidence or falsely claim to smell alcohol or marijuana or that “you have small pupils,” suggesting drugs, or get away from my weapon. I’ve seen reports that police are coached to bear false witness about resisting arrest as a way to “play to the cameras” to claim justification for bad behavior or gain leverage.
  25. Officers use falsely use a mental health or other pretext (Baker Act – Florida) to provide a retaliatory false justification for arrest should their license to be a police officer and lose their qualified immunity.
  26. There should be widespread studies to assess the reliability of police reports by comparing a sample of the reports to the bodycam and other videos.  This would provide judges and juries with a clearer baseline about the reliability of these reports.
  27. Police must track the number of false arrests for DUI: this is a simple, but powerful way to make change via transparency
  28. Change the law so that police can not pull you over for defective equipment such as broken taillight unless the driver hasn’t responded to repeated notifications. Instead, make it easy for police to send a mail, text, or email notifying you of problem.  They claim that vehicular Terry stops are so dangerous to officer safety, but they conduct them for such trifling pretexts.  Save roadside detentions for something signification and use other methods when possible. (Former police deputy Abaiah Israel says he was told to look for any pretext to get into cars.)
  29. If police already have access to information (License Plates) that allows them to determine that a car/driver is legal, they shouldn’t hassle you
    to provide proof of registration or insurance. The only time when a driver’s copy of registration and insurance should be needed is if there is a discrepancy between the data the LEO sees and the driver’s paper copy. Also the government should continue to mail a copy of the registration for people who don’t have printers.
    • If this is possible, it should also reduce LEO concerns about drivers reaching into the glove box to get a gun.
  30. Change the law so that police can’t pull you over for minor traffic infractions, like failure to signal, unless the driver has received repeated (and documented) warnings.
    If officer safety is so important, why take the risk of a bad encounter for a minor infraction? These minor charges are often (sometimes falsely) used as pretexts. This misuse overrides their benefit.
    Instead, officers should have an easy way to e/mail/text you a reminder to signal.
  31. Police must coach LEOs to observe the suspect first in non-emergency interactions rather than just barging in and demanding id and answers
  32. Police must understand that orders are not valid just because they say say so.  Police must be able to articulate a valid law enforcement purpose when they give orders.  Idea: Every time an officer justifies their commands with “because I said so” they should lose one vacation day.    A lawful order is not anything a police officer says that is not illegal.   If an order to exit a vehicle is not required for officer safety, but is given as part of a power trip (rather than real concern for officer safety), or a fishing attempt, or in retaliation for exercising one’s rights, we can not assume that it is a lawful order.
  33. Crack down on the weaponization of “officer safety.”  Emphasize that public safety and dignity are of equal importance to officer safety.  Officers who are so paranoid that they feel they must take such drastic steps should reconsider whether they should be police officers.
  34. Individuals and Businesses that are calling about things that are not crimes should be redirected to some alternative conflict resolution process, not police with guns.  Police must be trained that their job is not to please the caller.  They are not the “feelings” police.
  35. Police must ask themselves whether they are treating the suspect differently than if they were white.
  36. If the police are the only complaintant, all charges, especially obstruction or disorderly conduct  should be viewed with suspicion, otherwise their is a high risk of trumped up charges.
  37. Institute photo radar so that police do not need to enforce speed limits / have the ability to use this as a pretext.
    (This would test whether people want the speed limits to be enforced neutrally and without pretext.)
  38. Re-evaluate speed limits that have been set artificially low so as to enable leeway for exceeding the limit by 5-10 mph. Then have photo radar, strictly and non-subjectively enforce the potentially higher limits.
  39. Configure 911 calls so the operator can hand off the call to the police officer who has been dispatched so the officer can start the investigation by interviewing the caller before/upon arrival at the scene.
  40. Attempts of the police to solicit a trespass/interference/disturbing the peace/etc. should be viewed with suspicion and may be considered a violation of 18 USC 242 and the 1st amendment if it is being used to trespass someone who is recording the police.
  41. Retaliation against people for exercising their rights should be strongly disincentivized.
  42. Question Supreme Court Case: If the police have malice or a vendetta against a member of the public, their subjective motives may be relevant, despite objective facts that the citizen violated some law, such as failing to signal 200 feet before an intersection.  This is because the the statue requires the officer’s “good faith belief,” which can not coincide with bad intent.
  43. Any LEO that witnesses misconduct and does not report it is an accomplice.  
  44. Initiate frequent testing for drugs and steroid use with automatic discharge for failure. End steroid rage.
  45. If a LEO detains someone (ie for a reason), and the officer finds that reason to be unfounded, they should not fish for other possible charges.
  46. LEOs must have more regular training in the constitution, the limits of their authority, stops, searching and common areas of ignorance (Legal training is much too low, especially compared to the amount of time it takes to become a hairdresser in some states)
  47. Review the performance of police instruction:
    • My bet is that it’s “Desert Snow” teaching it to them. Desert Snow is a private company that does a lot of… I guess you could say extracurricular training for cops. They claim to teach “criminal interdiction” but most of what it is is training on how to violate civil rights as well as get away with literal highway robbery.
    • These cops seem to think their investigation process should be “We will keep escalating this situation until you obey everything we tell you, no matter what or why.” They turned nothing into crimes for no reason.
  48. Regularly test officers on knowledge of the constitution and relevant law. If officers consistently fail, they would lose their job.
  49. Police supervisors should regularly review dash and body cameras and public feedback/complaints. Supervisors should coach
    LEOs     on their behavior, including reviewing the RAS and PC for their Terry Stops.  This should be a regular process of officer development, like telemarketers are recorded for quality control,  independent of Internal Affairs. If misconduct is shown, there should be accountability.
  50. Police dogs and handlers that have a history of unreliability in the field must be retired.  This means that dogs (and handlers) that return too many false reports can not be used to obtain probable cause for a a search, if if they were able to pass a test in a lab.  If it turns out that many handlers and dogs are unreliable, police will have to rethink their use of drug dogs.
  51. The public should be available to anonymously file complaints using a form available on the internet, via phone, or in person with someone independent of the police department.  Some police department make it hard to file complaints  (by stonewalling). Threats, intimidation, and retaliation must be strongly penalized.  Accessing personal information for retaliatory purposes should carry additional penalty. If a police officer threatens to fabricate a reason for arrest/retaliation the officer should be terminated with prejudice and blacklisted from other departments.
  52. If police turn off or obscure any cameras, no charges against the public should be admissible, as a deterrence for bad behavior. Police should also be punished for turning off or interfering with cameras belonging to the public.
  53. Strict scrutiny and potential sanctions must be held for police claims that they need bystanders’ ID and video of a crime scene as this can be a cover for retaliation or intimidation or part of an attempt to distract/impede bystanders from videotaping a scene.
  54. Public review boards should have easy and automatic access to LEO dash/body cameras, police reports, as well as public feedback/comments.
  55. If you quit because you’re going to be investigated, your license to be a police officer should be revoked. And you should still be charged just like any other citizen
  56. Police should have some way to signal to the other to consider backing off or de-escalating, rather than silently watch their partner power-trip, violate the law or exercise ignorance.
  57. There should be some sort of carrot like early retirement buyout for police who can’t hack it in the new system.
  58. It sounds like you can “get a record” even if you are arrested and found innocent. This can cause problems that haunt the former suspect for years,
    causing various problems, including maintaining employment and housing.  The public should not fear “getting a record” if they are not found guilty.
  59. If the public holds the police in contempt, by giving them the “finger”, the police should treat this as a “canary in the coalmine,” raather retaliate and fabricate a ticket.
  60. Employ “mystery shoppers” who evaluate departments. This is like the pastor who pretended to be homeless or police decoy tactic that made the New York Subway unsafe for muggers.
  61. Legal settlements involving officers should not have gag orders/secrecy. This can amount to the government paying the complainant to be silent about government’s misconduct.
  62. If lawsuits against the police are above a certain level, have the judgements come out of the police pension funds.
  63. People who conduct internal reviews that get overturned by a lawsuit should be sanctioned and an investigation done to see whether corrupt influence was applied to alter the outcome.
  64. The militarization of the police is a sign of failure. Some of this is due to an excess of military equipment and police who want to play
    as “operators”.   In other cases police have legitimate fears. The government needs to be honest about addressing the underlying causes.  A significant number of officers have a military background and bring military culture to the job.
  65. Lawyers need to start an app so they can instantly FaceTime anyone in a situation like this. Hold the phone up and let the attorney interpret.. (Attorney Shield)
  66. Government should study and reform how legal charges cascade, such as when someone is given a ticket and then they have transportation issues getting to the trial or paying the ticket, and so then the ticket turns into a bench warrant, which leads to an arrest, which leads to jail, but because they can not afford bail, they lose their job .. and things spiral downward from there.
  67. A study should be done as to areas where dash cameras are are more commonly purchased  and where citizens have educated themselves.  This may be a sign that something is wrong in those jurisdictions.
  68. The 911 operators or police need to be wary of Karens or Karlins reports that do not allege anything illegal.  Offers need to understand that if nothing illegal is alleged any interaction must be consensual.
  69. if you have a court date and the person given the summons does not show up, a warrant for their arrest if issued. if the cop does not show up, why is a warrant not issued for the cop?
  70. Surveillance State: There indefinite retention of the public’s personal data should be scrutinized, especially when no criminal behavior was alleged.
  71. I would like “Here’s the Deal” to investigate how many police departments and sherrff feputies are trained using Israeli Defense Forces instructors or manuals. People would be shocked.
  72. Special scrutiny should be given to those cases where excess charges are dropped or found to be unfounded.  This is often correlates with retaliatory police behavior, which often occurs when police abuse their authority.  Some of this falls under the category of ‘contempt of cop” rather than legitimate law enforcement and is an abuse of power.
  73. Police must learn the trespass law — requiring that a trespass order be authorized by the property owner and the person being trespassed is given a warning and the option to leave without detention or identification.  Only if the person who has been trespassed refuses to leave or returns can the police detain and identify them.  This must be on the exam:
    • police can not trespass people from public property unless they violate some other law
  74. Police must learn the difference between public an private property.  Property owned by the town, county or state is not private property — it is public property.  This must be on the exam.
  75. Police must learn the difference between policy and law.  Police are put in a bind because their policy “requires” them to get ID, even though the 4th amendment precludes people from having to give ID in many situations:
  76.  The use of unnecessary directives at the end of an encounter should be deconstructed:
  77. Paint police cars teal, per Malcolm Gladwell.
    Call it “Sandra Bland Teal”. (Demilitarization) 🙂