In my humble opinion there are two reasons why we are having a hard time holding police corruption accountable. Let me say, I'm 100% for police but also very much against corruption and targeting people for social networks and bias reasons. We as a nation must change the way we see and handle obvious violations of our Bill of Rights and Constitution least we someday break the system. The reasons why we do and don't is the proof in the pudding and often dereliction of our most sacred oaths. There are better paths forward but we have to accept them. That means being self reflective and supporting a higher value system.
Often giving the benefit of doubt to people of a certain race, background or occupation regardless of their merit or worthiness. When supported by a network that has shown prior coordinated poor behaviors we have a dangerous situation where free passes can embolden others to act in similar ways. (Most of the members are good people but are so wrapped into their social network they lost their ability to think outside that group. Who they talk to, what they wear, where they go, what clubs they are involved in, what they believe, etc... are highly dependent in internal group status. If someone says they have to hate and target someone they do so without thinking about it. That is a long term risk. There needs to be an empathetic way to help them see beyond their ex sports playing network to more appropriate American values that relate to independence of thought that tap deeper value systems. )
It is just too easy to lie and make up stories when the system is not willing to hold people accountable (Those lies can be broken by asking the right questions of different people at the right times. The Prisoner's Dilemma.) The problem is that a free pass becomes a potential sign of clannish third world thinking that risks the long term integrity of our institutions (Are we experiencing some of this now? What does it take to restore trust of such institutions? I believe we can but we have to look beyond the obvious. It will take coordination of different people who know what the "right thing" is.)
We also want our officers to be successful and engage with the community (Not just their social, racial, or religious network.)The shield means something important and it must continue mean something in order for it to be effective (Everything in our society is based on trust from our economic system to our leadership. You have to think beyond the obvious to understand that our institutions are socially constructed based on necessity of society. The height or decline of a society is related to the development and wisdom of these institutions. Nearly every great society from the Romans to the Islamic Golden Age was based on universal values that transcended race and culture. They declined when such values were no longer inclusive and in fighting went rampant.). When we fail at our internal controls and turn a blind eye to criminal behaviors that strikes at the core of our national values our foundations begin to crumble (They don't just go away through intimidation or dishonesty. It just transforms into other areas of society.) We have the beginning of decline of a great nation as institutions become distrusted and people lower their trust levels (We need people to trust those institutions and leadership to act with integrity.).
Acting with integrity is always important and when matched with multiple uninvestigated community complaints we run the risk that the law no longer functions as intended (It can become an extension of distorted beliefs that represent certain groups or a fraction of society. That is not denigrating the very good officers that act with integrity. Good officers are put at risk by those who circumvent public trust.). The law must seek to maintain integrity throughout the entire system and I believe that the process of betterment has started (Lots of foot dragging thus far but it is starting because the other options don't make sense and even if someone makes a sadistic "win" they risk everything else down the road. I'm still unsure of why we didn't start a long time ago. We should know the difference between right and wrong. Some do, but many do not. I applaud those with a moral code and value system who fulfill their duties as professionals.)
Do we really wonder why people are protesting if obvious criminal acts are given a wink and nod? Think about it for a moment and drop our pro or anti police arguments (I'm pro police, pro civil rights, pro solutions, and against crime and corruption. If something wrong happens and the system doesn't correct people have the right to protest. If the police act with integrity one must respect and support that to show their well balanced nature. It is called objectivity and the ability differentiate situations. Thus pro and anti-policers are rarely right because they lack proper perspective. The same goes for our politicians who struggle to think divergently on such issues. They often maintain all this or that mentalities which damage potential bipartisan solutions.) We want our police to be strong, have the best tactics, know when to help and when to arrest. We want them to act with integrity all the time to maintain institutional trust and ensure people work with and support the institution to make it more effective.
What happens when a code of silence protects bad apples? How many bad apples does it take to make the whole department rotten? You have to answer this for yourself and how those behaviors might align/misalign with our wider national values. However, if we know that people are doing bad things and a "code of silence" takes hold, those people may walk from accountability but the entire department and in turn institution inherits the bad karma (Silence on corruption is not wise. I've seen this and I have seen it grow to damage hundreds of prospects and lives. I encourage officers to turn in obviously wrong behaviors and intent to their internal controls, state police, and/or federal law enforcement. It would really suck if you knew something and it was found out later you failed to act.)
You don't have to listen to me. I have a Muslim sounding name so I know how quickly my life, my children's life, my skills, and opinion are discounted (I might be one of the leading authorities on this topic within the country.). I think we need to change....or the system will someday have a forced correction (Universalizing our values to all Americans). I always believe in being proactive on problems and looking over the horizon to emerging issues before they become big (Some work only in hindsight and that often costs society significantly. That is why political immaturity over national development is not wise.)
How do we solve a problem such as this where we know wrong is wrong? I don't know but I'm thinking about it because much of it is up the rational decision making and moral conscious of others. Some are born better at it at ethical judgement than others, and yet we all must live by success and failures in that regard. To change hearts and minds is to move people from hyper focus on the leaves, to the tree, to the forest, to the ecosystem. In other words, we must reflect back enough truth to ensure their moral strings start to tug at their inner conscious. If we as a people fail in correcting when correction is necessary we begin to fail the entire system and the people who live in that system.
The group that targeted me felt they could engage in such behaviors because of their perceived belief in their inherent superiority over me and my children. They also utilized their close association with law enforcement to engage in aggressive coordinated activities that have impacted at least 2 public institutions (education and law enforcement.). While they don't recognize it, their behavior seems to be based in racial, religious, and other distorted misperceptions related to beliefs within their social networks. Rumors and intentionally character assassination were part of the process. None of them can say me or my kids have done anything to them. These are the type of groups that rob the rest of society of their future and without some level of accountability we continue to build the pathways to two different societies. (They do not know they will increasingly be in the minority of opinion and value systems nationally as most come to recognize the needs of human capital and fair treatment to our future competitiveness. That is why each person in that group, and in many ways the entire country, should decide what values they hold most important. It is the micro of actions that add up over time and every American must stand for certain principles beyond their social networks. The next 10 years will decide what our nation will look like in terms of one or two societies. The seeds of our direction are already planted.). It is up to our judges to stand to fuse society into one system guided by a universal institution (Importance of Judges and Corruption and Better Values). We can hope and pray wisdom. moral conscious and law can occupy the same space at the same time. Let's trust in each other and see where that goes.
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