#8CantWait

So here is another medium dive. I can't call this a deep dive because I probably could of spent another 3 hours pulling statistics and making arguments. I don't want to be that guy. I'm just going to give my take on each of these points and some supporting material. If you disagree with me and have facts that are relevant feel free to message me. I knew next to nothing going into to this and spent about 3 hours total researching it. I will definitely adjust my views if there is something I don't understand or didn't find the right information on. Ok, here we go on the 8 changes that can't wait.

1. Ban all chokeholds and strangleholds.

I don't like absolutes. I can definitely see this one biting good cops in the ass. I understand that guidelines need to exist, but to say you can not, under any circumstance, use a choke hold? That seems a bit much. However, there needs to be guidelines. So, I checked it out. In December of 2019 the federal 9th Circuit Court of appeals upheld that choke holds are illegal if suspect is not resisting arrest. There are guidelines. The other interesting fact I found in this article is that over the 5 year period previous to May 2019 only 2% of choke hold complaints resulted in discipline. That seems low. Almost low enough to suggest that there is an enforcement problem as opposed to a policy problem. More on that later.

2. Require de-escalation

3. Require warning before shooting.

4. Exhaust all alternatives before shooting.

I am grouping these three together because they are very similar and again I don't like absolutes. This article explains the legal ramifications better than I can. It again comes down to that these are great ideas on paper and hard to implement in real life. This article is a good read about legal standards regarding exhausting all alternatives. Also, I couldn't find a recent legal ruling, but I am pretty sure cops can't shoot people without telling them that they are cops.

I am going to take this opportunity to insert a brief disclaimer. I truly believe that change needs to happen. The more I write about these 8 ideas the more I realize I am definitely coming across as against these 8 ideas but there does need to be a change.

5. Duty to Intervene

This is a great idea. It should be standard practice across the board. After doing a little digging on the Google machine, I found this release from the Baltimore Police Department regarding the duty to intervene. It's from March of 2018 and seems to be a clarification of an existing policy. The results of a quick search of the internetz seems to support this being a fairly wide spread policy. That didn't stop an old man getting his head cracked open in Buffalo, NY and officers stopping other officers from helping him. Again, enforcement vs. policy problem.

6. Ban Shooting at moving vehicles

No, just no. Again, I don't like absolutes and this is the worse of them. There is no way you can justify saying that there is never a reason to shoot at a moving vehicle. Ever heard of car bombs? Suicide bombers? This is a bad idea on a list of goodish ones. I am not for giving the police blanket amnesty every time they shoot at a moving car, but to ban it completely is unreasonable. 

7. Establish use of force continuum

This is also a good idea. I am also not sure why it is on this list because it seems to be in widespread use across the country. Here is an explanation of what use of force continuum is.

Again, not sure why it's on the list.

8.Require all force be reported

Not sure what they mean by force but using the common sense definition this has been law on the federal level since 1994.

Conclusion

This list is feel good click bait shit. There is a systemic problem in the justice system of this country and this doesn't fix any of it. This list is junk made by an organization looking to ride the coattails of the current national mood. There is no substance and no vehicle for real change. I don't have the right answers but that doesn't mean I can't recognize a wrong one when I see it. It's also hypocritical of me to say these are all wrong without offering alternatives so here we go.

1. Reformation of police unions

I was going to blog about the Minneapolis PD's contract but it was too heavy on legalese. I did read the most recent agreement available online which covered 2017 to 2019. Basically, if you found a cop in a basement with a bloody axe and 14 dismembered bodies he can not be detained or questioned without being provided a lawyer, a union rep, reasonable time to prepare, and a list of what questions the interview will cover. That is a real problem.

2. Fix qualified immunity.

Qualified immunity is a necessary evil. It needs to exist, just not in it's current form. Here is a definition. I am not a lawyer, but any law that leaves things up to a judge's discretion is wide open for abuse. There needs to be a clearer standard for what does/doesn't qualify.

3. Community/Police relations

I was raised to respect and listen to law enforcement. They were members of the community doing a job. I have never worried about being shot by a cop during a traffic stop. I have sat in a car with my hands out the window as a cop stood 10 feet away with his gun out and did not fear for my life. I understand that as a white, rural, male that my experience does not apply to everyone but it should. I don't know how to get us to this point. Too many innocent people have been killed by cops and too many cops have been killed conducting a traffic stop for there to be any easy answers here but this is the root of the problem. Cop's inherent paranoia of being attacked and people's inherent paranoia of being unjustly injured or killed. I don't know how to fix it, I just know that it's a problem.

This was a long one and prob took 4 hours of time total to write. Stay safe folks and don't drink the kool aid.