Wednesday, 14 February 2018 02:11 AM
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#30492 I really wish that the police would make a far more concerted effort to not only stop the militarization of the forces but to start de-militarizing. We need to ditch the 1033 program that gives police the equipment that the military no longer wants but of course Trump rolled back Obama's restrictions. I want the police to be safe of course, but the do not NEED MRAPs, military camo, new(er) 6 shot grenade launchers, etc etc.
We have to have a hard separation of police and military. You want paramilitary law enforcement, go to the FBI. Police should not be rolling up to protests in camo, with MRAP's. They have smaller armored vehicles already, they dont need to be able to withstand an IED. Its bad enough that they were black uniforms, wearing military camo just makes it worse. They are not doing ANYTHING to help make the public feel safer around them. I am a white male that dresses fairly nicely, I have never done anything illegal. I have absolutely nothing to fear of the police but just being around them still makes me feel nervous and I shouldnt. But how they conduct themselves overall just creates a hard barrier, I dont feel like I can approach them.
All I am asking for are some very simple, changes. Make police cars more noticeable when they dont have their lights on, theres no need to hide their cars when trying to catch people that are speeding. People notice them, then slam on the brakes and cause an accident. So just paint the cars in a more noticeable scheme (at least the non-interceptor cars). Have their vests be brighter at least, again making them more noticable. Have their overall uniforms be brighter, I am not saying neon pink or anything like that but like maybe light blue or white. Make it so it doesnt feel like you're to be as unnoticeable as possible. Also they need so smile more instead of always scowling, its not like smiling makes you more vulnerable.
These are very simple changes that dont require any changes in training doctrine or police changes or anything. For actual training or policy changes we need to hire former military, have them train officers extensively in de-escalation. Soldiers are held to far higher standards when it comes to engagements and ROE. I mean for christ's sake, a cop that was former military that was de-escalating a situation was fired for doing so. New cops rolled up on the scene, they wre nervous and shot and killed the guy. They should have deferred to the officer that was the one that was in control and de-escalating. I mean seriously, wtf! You punish an officer that was in control of the situation and working (successfully) to make the situation safer. Even the insurance agency wanted him fired.
We need to seriously be holding those that we entrust in upholding the law to FAR higher standards.They are only make things more dangerous if we cant feel safe around them, if we are afraid of getting shot if we call the cops. People make the excuse that all we hear about are the bad cops and that there are plenty of good cops. That doesnt mean we shouldnt take action against the bad ones. The bad apple ruins the bunch. There are so many small, simple things that can be done to improve the relationship people have with Law Enforcements yet the second we ask the police to do something, they and their unions get all up in arms saying its unreasonable and we are putting their safety at risk. Its all total BS.