I think you're on to something. Unfortunately, it's complicated, because in large part it has to do with what role we want the police to play, and what the list of allowable tactics and escalation protocols are. Also, what role should cops play in revenue collection, enforcing public policies (like selling loosies or kicking kids of basketball courts because social distancing), or how high crime/low tax base cities should pay police on their limited budgets. Not easy questions. Also, raising standards for cops implicitly means you have to pay them more-- either in higher salaries or because you need to hire more officers. And municipal budgets are strained right now, so they'd either have to raise taxes (which would probably mostly fall on poor people) or take money from other social programs. I don't see a movement among reformers to understand these difficult issues-- or even talk to experienced LEOs and DAs to get an understanding of them.Alfred_E._Neuman wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:06 am I hope you guys are right about leaning away from a full on race war. My wife is still friends with a bunch of her people from our little farming town we came from in middle GA, and those rednecks are ready to throw down if need be. Hopefully it's just a bunch of talk.
Fat Cat's mention of the meth and fentanyl brings up some other thoughts I've been having about this whole thing. I saw an interview with Ralph Nader (I know...) where he was talking about Occupy Wall Street. He said at the height of the protests he went down to speak with the protesters and he asked 1.Who's in charge, and 2. Where's your list of actionable demands that you want to see met. Crickets. No leader and no thoughts as to what they actually wanted to have changed. He left and didn't bother with Occupy anymore because he knew it was a farce and just an excuse to be belligerent.
I feel like this is a similar situation. There needs to be a solid leader step up for the black community, and they need a list of actionable demands that they want the criminal justice system to meet. Otherwise there are going to be sit-ins at every precinct, city hall, and state capital until the end of time. Well organized protests that will actually get a message across. First on that list would be much stricter drug testing for officers. Also, much improved psych exams that will be given much more often to judge an officer's mental state. Maybe reform of non-violent crime laws. Maybe no former combat military vets on police forces. Whatever, but an actual list of what you want to get out of this situation.
There are also some trends in BLM movement, at least in practical terms, make reform difficult. The ideas that blacks can't be racist, that there's no such thing as black on black crime, and that acknowledging white privilege is a necessary first step-- probably all interfere with the practical steps.
