Reconciliation for Police Force Mistakes?

[jochoa]

What do you propose, if anything, America/Police do to reconcile?
Do you think your proposal would satisfy the protestors and/or looters?

 

[yankeesouth]

Okay and reconcilation for…

Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)

 

[phil19034]

What do you propose, if anything, America/Police do to reconcile?

I don’t think the Police Forces in America have anything to reconcile for.

However, individual sins of individual cops or groups of cops are their own.

The vast majority of Police are just trying to keep the streets safe AND to come home to their families, unharmed, each night.

What I find very interesting is that people want to blame Trump & conservatives for this… however, every Republican and conservative I’ve heard speak on the George Floyd tragedy has stated that the officer should be facing Murder One, and not Murder Three. The conservatives have also all said that they would have charged the other three immediately. Every single politician with power in this situation are all Democrats. Leftists want to blame Trump for the riots, but Democrats ALONE have the power to charge murder one and charge the other three officers.

 

[PetraG]

Police need to show there is no one who is without recourse if the police abuse their position of authority and trust. Actually, everyone in a position of authority and trust needs that. People so pushed by a difficult and dangerous and thankless job need it the most. Otherwise, a pattern of abuse of authority is inevitable by those who aren’t up to the demands of the job, and the people deemed to have the least voice and least means to object and the least likelihood of winning public sympathy will get most of it. It is human nature.

In return, the police who do such a difficult job in a professional manner deserve a lot more respect from the majority of people who actually do have the moral fiber to give that respect. Some of us will always come up short in that department, but the rest ought to make up for the deficit.

 

[otjm]

however, every Republican and conservative I’ve heard speak on the George Floyd tragedy has stated that the officer should be facing Murder One, and not Murder Three.

We live in a time of instant analysis and instant judgement. Given the phenomenal amount of commentary from both the liberals and the the conservatives, I am not sure where in the United States a jury could be impaneled of people who have not already made up their minds. And I say this having spent 6 years defending criminals, including two murder cases.

As an aside, and without suggesting the truth of the matter (as that is in the actual report), it is my understanding that an autopsy has been done and the family is requesting a second autopsy, on the grounds that the first one allegedly indicated that the victim did not die of a form of strangulation. The report did not say what was identified as the cause of death - which could be indicative that it was caused by excessive force.

That the four officers could have been detained without charges is within the law of the state. Not that doing so would have provided any reduction if the level of emotions at play;
but it had the appearance of an inability to react to what appears to be extremely out of line for the circumstances, and resulted in death.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

1. body cams for all. The footage spoiler be stored for at least a year but should be private unless part of a case or complaint…
2. “blacklist” officers fired for severe wrongdoing. It should take a few years before they can become officers in another PD.
3. other officers on scene should have an obligation to physically stop abuse occurring near them without fear of reprisal.
4. augment policies to encourage de-escalation when practical.

 

[Peeps]

The greatest threat to a black male in the US is other black males. Has been for decades.

No headlines.
No demonstrations.
No riots.
No looting.

Absolutely true, at least in our city. In the weeks of the COVID-19 shutdown, almost every day, we saw daily reports of varoius crimes, including murder, and without exception, every one of these murders was black against black.

We are a city beset with gang violence, and most of the gangs are black, Latino, and Asian. If a gang member survives their teen years, they end up in adult gangs and mobs, which are even more violent.

I cannot help but wonder if the cops who commit the crimes against citizens are in the pay of the gangs and mobs (or perhaps are being threatened by them), and are incited to stir up civil unrest and racial tension.

So IMO, the way to stop violence against black men and women, as well as against other races and nationalities, is to end the rule of the street gangs.

But I don’t think that is likely to happen. They’re too powerful, and there is an international organization behind these gangs and mobs (mainly drugs and sex trafficking worldwide). The pipelines are well-established from decades of development, and the international criminals that are at the top are not likely to concede to any effort to stop them. It’s nice to be ultra-rich and powerful, and in all likelihood, welcomed in the top levels of society, including the entertainment and sports worlds.

Since we cannot stop crime, our only other option is to raise children who will say no to opportunities. But from what I have heard in various documentaties, it’s simply not possible for an inner-city child, especially a black child, to just say no. They will not survive if they are not allied with a street gang.

God help us. St. Mary, pray for our children!

 

[Irishmom2]

other officers on scene should have an obligation to physically stop abuse occurring near them without fear of reprisal.

I believe this Is the biggest factor involved. Officers should not be standing by and doing nothing while this is going on. Couldn’t one Policeman there have intervened? And for that matter, could not one private citizen have gotten involved? I get that people are afraid, but what about laying down your life for a friend?

 

[dscath]

Imo the looters/rioters have no agenda and the protestors don’t have anything specific they want to accomplish, just emotion. There is no police force issue in America at large. Police killings of civilians continue to go down every year. I have been in favor of mandatory police body cameras. I think that would solve most if not all the issues.

This, if it is the predominant thought in America, leads to answering the question with “nothing”.

 

[dscath]

Imo the looters/rioters have no agenda and the protestors don’t have anything specific they want to accomplish, just emotion. There is no police force issue in America at large. Police killings of civilians continue to go down every year. I have been in favor of mandatory police body cameras. I think that would solve most if not all the issues.

This, if it is the predominant thought in America, leads to answering the question of what can be done for reconciliation with “nothing”.

Tribalism and “us against them” is what put us in this situation, and if it continues, will never allow us out of this situation.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Some things that have crossed my mind in recent days, as ways to address the problem:

• An aggressive effort to train, recruit, hire, and promote officers who are women and people of color.
• “Pairing up” white male officers with officers of different demographics.
• Having “community volunteers” (possibly even compensated for their time) to ride along with the police, comprised of these different demographics.
• “Community review and accountability boards” as an integral part of the police department, drawn from a broad spectrum of the community.

 

[StudentMI]

How about demilitarizing the cops and stop seeing the area they’re supposed to protect as occupied territory? Stop showing their guns everywhere they go, stop decking them out in paramilitary gear.

 

[Welshrabbit]

“Community review and accountability boards” as an integral part of the police department, drawn from a broad spectrum of the community.

I assume these people will not only be trained on, but have first-hand experience in making use of force decisions?

 

[HomeschoolDad]

HomeschoolDad:

“Community review and accountability boards” as an integral part of the police department, drawn from a broad spectrum of the community.

I assume these people will not only be trained on, but have first-hand experience in making use of force decisions?

Wouldn’t hurt, if you could find people who fell into the latter category.

 

[Welshrabbit]

That’s a pretty big if. Pretty much only retired law enforcement (possibly military personnel) would fit the bill.

 

[PetraG]

That I know of, there is zero evidence that Mr. Floyd was killed because he was black . Zero. Did the officer have a bad history? Yes! That should have been handled long ago.

He was killed. He was black. He isn’t the first. The distribution of those who suffer this kind of treatment is not random.

The greatest threat to a black male in the US is other black males. Has been for decades.

People expect that the greatest threat to their lives will be criminals, probably criminals from their own neighborhood. It isn’t acceptable, but it is at least understandable.

People do not accept that the people who have “to serve and protect” emblazoned on the side of their work vehicles and the trust and authority of all of society symbolized in their uniforms will have a license to misuse or even kill those they deem too insignificant as human beings to resist, that there will be citizens they deem to be without recourse if they are the victims of police who abuse their authority.

You may as well deem bishops who hid the abuse of children to have no more authority to stop the problem than anyone else in the Church, that a priest who used his position of trust to offend against children taught to trust him is no different than some stranger driving around in his van claiming to have lost a puppy. That’s nonsense. Of course the harm is far greater when the offenses are committed by those who have been given authority and a place of trust. Of course it is worse. It is far worse.

 

[StudentMI]

He was killed. He was black.

That’s the extent of the evidence.

 

[PetraG]

That’s the extent of the evidence.

He wasn’t killed by a criminal. He was killed by someone who had his authority from the citizenry.
It is the responsibility of the citizenry to ensure that the authority wielded on our behalf is never used in that way, or at least never without commensurate consequences. Period.

What is the alternative? To just say, “oh, well, this group or that is more likely to be killed by the police, but that’s OK, because they’re more likely to be murdered in general, too, so what difference does it make if they have both a worse crime problem and a worse problem with abuse at the hands of the police?”

You may as well just say “I wouldn’t want to be you, but I’m not, so too bad for you.”

 

[StudentMI]

What is the alternative? To just say, “oh, well, this group or that is more likely to be killed by the police, but that’s OK, because they’re more likely to be murdered in general, too, so what difference does it make if they have both a worse crime problem and a worse problem with abuse at the hands of the police?”

Bolded for emphasis. You also can’t just randomly bring up higher rates of crime among the black community and dismiss it in the rhetorical fashion you did above. The two go hand in hand.

 

[MikeInVA]

How about demilitarizing the cops

This is something that I’ve thought about for years. The police has become far too military in their approach to law enforcement. It begins with uniforms - khaki uniforms are much less aggressive than black.We need more Sheriff Andys and fewer SWAT teams, in my opinion.