Changing police relations

Naturally a lot of this discussion has focused on abuses by the police force.

It is important to remember that there were complaints about racist, abusive, and dishonest behavior by the police before technology started backing it up. Now not only can people record encounters easily, but then the footage can be shared and demonstrations can be planned via social media. Unfortunately, right now all that does is show people who are willing to see it that there was no justification for the death after the fact.

I am not against police wearing body cameras. I think it's a good idea, but most of the relevant video evidence has come from bystanders and their phones. Body cameras have been mysteriously turned off, officers have moved to the side of dashboard cameras, and cell phone videos have shown officers say things that did not match up with their actions, perhaps to get audio in their favor. Outfitting the police with cameras is one tool, but not a cure-all.

I do think there are some changes that could be a huge help in changing how police work is done.

One important thing is to change how police work and local governments are funded. We learned from Ferguson is that there is an over-reliance on tickets and fines for funding. This happens in many communities. Courts are set up to be as inconvenient as possible. The poor are disproportionately targeted because they do not have the means to fight it.

This is regressive. More to the point it's cruel. It also creates an inherently abusive relationship with law enforcement toward citizens. Even without the threat of violence, there is fear for the citizens, because a simple traffic stop can be financially devastating. There were many accounts of people losing jobs due to court problems for minor offenses.

It is not at all incomprehensible that the power can go to an officer's head, nor how dangerous that can be.

Of course the next step is to end the War on Drugs.

This is also a funding issue, because a lot of funding goes there, and then more funds go into incarcerating people. Some corporations do find of way of turning that into a cash cow too, at least part of that is coming out of your tax dollars.

I understand the concern that ending said war will result in more people using drugs, but law enforcement has not been successful in curtailing drug use. At all. Making drugs illegal has created a thriving black market, and a lot of violent crimes come from that. It makes it harder for addicts to seek treatment. It encourages the promotion of stronger versions of drugs. It terrorizes poor neighborhoods and is racist in its implementation.

Speaking of cash cows, a lot of money flows to departments through this program. That appears to encourage extraordinary measures to keep numbers up. The military style weapons encourage SWAT style antics. This gets people killed.

I was looking for information on Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7 year old killed in a raid on the wrong apartment. That was not strictly a drug raid, but also I found this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/drug-war-deaths_n_5162673.html

All the drug war does is compound misery. That can be dealt with better through other, peaceful measures. If you have any doubts on that, try reading Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari. He also has a web site:

http://chasingthescream.com/

Taking both of those steps will probably mean that we will need less police. We will certainly need less jails. People will fight that.

It's worth fighting back.