Would We do but a Few Things, this Police Violence Could End

   Would we but do but a few simple things, police brutality against blacks would largely come to a halt.
    Just a few simple things, and we could clean out the racism from our police departments.
   (One) We need police review boards that are independent of the police. When someone has a complaint, they take it to the board. And, when the board has done its investigation, it either in and of itself has power to fire the officer, or it turns the decision over to the mayor, who has that authority. The police chief can't turn the decision against an officer off at the pass. He or she has no veto power. Nor can the union or police association. Nope. They can present their case during the trial before the review board, but when the review board renders its decision, that decision stands regardless what the union or police association says.
   Now, perhaps, it is unnecessary to establish these review boards. Perhaps we already have a system of justice and needn't reinvent it. Notice how when decisions come back from these review boards, suggesting officers be fired, the police unions step in, saying the person cannot be fired without due process. Well, due process implies a court. So, why not take all the hearings and complaints against officers and try them in the courts? Isn't that why we have courts, to determine if someone has done wrong by the laws and rules we have?
  (Two) Dismiss any police officer who has in his or her background any racism or inclination towards undue violence. Investigate them. Start by asking them if they can say, Black lives matter. There is nothing wrong with that sentiment. If an officer cannot say, Black lives matter, at least some strain of racism likely exists within them. Then, interview their co-workers, their family, and others, and see if there is any evidence of racism or attitude of overt authoritarian police rule.
   (Three) Put new policies in place on when to use force and when to use lethal force. Current policies are too liberal. Sheer them down. We need policies not so much that tell them when to shoot, as when not to shoot. Tell them, Don't shoot in this situation, or this one, or this one. Make the list as long and lengthy as can be done from thinking of and imagining times when it is overboard to use violence or force.
   (Four) Train, train, train. Drill it into their heads, when they shouldn't be shooting, or using force, or ordering around the public.
   (Five) Free the police, so to speak, by giving them back their moral compass. Each situation has its own nuances. Give them back the right to make use their own good judgement, instead of having to say, The rule book says do this, so I have to do it. Yes, train them, and train them, and train them, but give them the right to set aside all that training, and just be able to say, Yes, I know what the rule book says, but looking at this specific situation, I can see that that is wrong. The moral compass was long ago taken from the officers when we started teaching them that when certain conditions exist, they are within their legal rights and they should shoot to kill. We need to give them back that moral compass. If they just don't feel morally right about shooting -- even though the law might allow it -- they need to have the freedom to not shoot. If they judge in their heart that the killing isn't necessary, they shouldn't feel compelled by their training to kill someone. So, free the police from having to follow too strict of guidelines.
   (Six), Place body cams on every officer and require them to use them during every arrest, and make the videos a matter of public record. It is no secret that the recording of arrests and such has led to all the outrage against police violence. If some police brutality is still escaping us, throw it into the open by having body cams in use during all arrests.
   Seven, If affordable, have them quickly record every stop they make, giving the name of the person stopped, the racial appearance, reason for the stop, and short report on what happened during the stop. They have enough paperwork already, so make it so they can stop just for one quick moment, speak into a recorder, and the recorder can be downloaded later into a printer. Make the files available to the public at the police station. If done with today's technology, it could take as little as 30 seconds for the officer to speak into the recorders.