Much of this blog is about national development and we don't shy away from difficult conversations when they have the chance to impact that development (That fear of saying too little and leaving the problems for the next generation seem to come forward). Let me say as a light Right Republican I have the ability to listen to my conservative and liberal friends with equal consideration. What I'm hearing from people is that it is great that leaders, judges, and prosecutors are now taking action once a video comes into the airwaves and there are no options to sugar coat what happened.
I'm 100% in support of police and 110% in support of civil rights (include religion and free speech) because ultimately all institutions must be subject to the general needs and will of society. Where I'm hearing some criticism, of which some of it I share, is that its a little late and the hindsight concern is nice but seems sort of well, "hindsight" when obvious foresight was needed.
There is a perception, right or wrong, that some in positions of authority know things like this are going on but they take little or no action until it hits public awareness (i.e. meaning their inactivity becomes a risk and questionable.). If there are multiple serious complaints, no internal investigations, weak internal affairs, prior issues of recklessness, etc. and none of that was addressed we have a management issue beyond poor group culture (Not always. Sometimes the data doesn't look like a pattern and someone could say they didn't understand the types of behaviors that were going on. The other issue is if these issues were known and no one acted on them and that in turn put peoples lives at risk. The only way to really know is to take a good look to see what the general reputation of this group was, would superiors know that, and were there any documented investigations to protect the public.)
Let me say that in general I have a great amount of respect for police (The majority that are good officers serving the public in an honorable way.) and I can say we need to hold bad apples accountable before they get caught on camera and we act/feel shocked (The officers we have reasonable suspicion are violating the law and are at risk of being criminal themselves, cloaked in legitimacy, and in turn protected for such activities even though their highest priority is to enforce these laws fairly. The Blue Code being used as a code of concealment of bad behavior. I respect some of that code but obvious criminal behavior beyond normal working mistakes not ok.). I've seen free pass and how people, and some very basic assumptions, are often the last concern for people. It seems to be fashionable in hindsight to talk about the potential solutions.
I think that this problem can be resolved but it will require to think about issues from a more holistic proactive perspective. Free passes, even when we know these behaviors are wrong allow bad behaviors to push distorted logic/behaviors until situations like this occur. Its not that misuse of authority is new, as it partners with power, but that new technology forces us to be aware of that which in the past was hidden.
Our freedoms and rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is the highest duty and calling for police, judges, and the general civilian population. Each of us has a responsibility to protect that way of life and make reforms when it appears a group, department, institution may not be fulfilling their roles effectively. Change and updating regularly should be expected from a nimble first world nation trying to maintain civil and economic superiority.
We need the best and brightest to come forward in our society and take roles where they can ensure we are proactive on damaging behaviors like street vigilantism that erode the foundations of shared governance. Developing democracy comes with challenges for each generation. (Key point) Our generation must push democracy from its current state to a more universal and inclusive democracy that creates realizable human capital improvements through proper environmental prompting.
I do not believe I mince words or am intentionally confusing. Both sides of most arguments seem to come forward and it takes time to prune to the most reasonable explanations. I want to see good cops get promoted, I want cops to be respected by the community and I want the community to be safe from bad cops. That requires thinking about things from multiple perspectives (Trust me, seeing things from multiple perspectives and sharing that is a necessary part of developing society but it doesn't make you friends in some circles because everyone is "right". Are they still "right"? Will they continue to be "right" in the future? )
The way to create respect is by holding the will of the people and our shared principles as more important than the fear of departmental retaliation. We break those cultures where good officers cannot thrive or exist for fear of being subject to criminally oriented officers and ineffective department leadership. Internal affairs needs to be more than just a job title on a piece of paper and needs teeth in addition to outside department support.
Unfortunately, in today's world you need to be somewhat of a risk taker to make movement toward loftier goals that lead to shared benefit. We should ask ourselves, "What usually happens to those who challenge poor behavior in poor cultures and why are we promoting people who don't have the moral aptitude to challenge poor behaviors when they see them?"
The answers are not easy but they won't come by dividing communities further (A word to the wise for those actively trying to divide communities....our strength lies in our ability to hedge our different backgrounds and skills. Good people build bridges and toxic people destroy bridges. With many more good people than bad people and our nation will collapse in on itself. I understand you may disagree and of course are "right" but essentially I think people can agree that such behavior leads to more distrust. Consider growing public sentiment across society. There are many good articles out there. Here is one that is good by CNN. ) As an American people we can resolve this issue in a way where police are welcome members of our community and the communities and police see similarly on how to rid neighborhoods of crime. That can only come from working together, finding solutions, and enacting those solutions together.
Its not Police vs. The People. A more reasonable viewpoint is America is growing to a higher level of civil development and changing the assumptions of policing (and society in general) is part of that developmental process. Whether we can change those assumptions in a healthy way for better national growth is dependent on the personalities involved. Let us tackle this issue as a single society, police and populace, working toward the same universal end. Ignore the sounds of ignorance that raise the risks to everyone where two forms of logic, two societies, and probably one opportunity in history to resolve this issue before two split collective conscious occur (From a theoretical and sociological perspective we need to view the possibility of rectification as attainable from a single perspective. If the felling from a large portion of society becomes "They don't care" and "They won't fix it" or "They won't let us fix it" the path become much more rocky and dangerous. So let us keep toxic voices and political immaturity out of this, use civil conversation and roll our sleeves up and get to solving national problems while we have most flexibility. * ).
*Unless your Congressman Santos who might have signed the Magna Carter and invented the term civil rights. I hear he might run for president and likely would make up a good enough story to get support. We need real leadership and real leaders that can help us solve problems. They are out there, they just haven't stood up to fulfill their oaths yet as it relates to policing and the public. Government is serious business with real consequences. I always encourage our governance to look over the horizon, act with integrity, and solve problems. That is pretty basic advice.
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