We have been debating over how we are going to mend the different perceptions of policing and justice into a single framework that is acceptable to the many different stakeholders that make up our nation. Some will say that everything is great so bedamned with the critics and some will vehemently disagree that its been broken without hope of repair. I like to take as rational and practical approach as possible as I can to help ensure that systems capitalize on their strengths and learn to improve through awareness of weaknesses. All organizations must continuously change or they run the risk of dissolution (Police, nations, companies, non profits, etc... are not "magically" immune.)
Thoughtful Change in Policing:
When I say thoughtful change that it doesn't mean "Oh great! We don't have to do anything!" and then move on without effort to improve the system. I think people have become aware of delay and ignore tactics and expect change with teeth marks. The options of sidestepping legitimate concerns are becoming increasingly limited as people become aware of the refusal to improve. A huge percentage of society feel they don't count, their rights are ignored, and the people who engaged in such behaviors are given free passes consistently (Providing win-win situations for everyone is not enough because you have to get them to accept it. Mental health for those who caused the problem, training for those who made mistakes, reform for better checks/balances, etc...).
There is a balance of the new and the old. Of course we should also be mindful of the traditions, value, and needs of policing (The "codes" are sometimes valuable and sometimes destructive.). They still must catch bad guys/gals and need the wiggle room to do that. Yet it should be done in a way with the deepest respect for human life and the essential principles of our society. There is no good reason why we can't respect certain occupational traditions while ensuring that we are not anchoring everything different as the enemy, criminal, less worthy and half Americans (It applies to people outside departments and those who are look, act, or are different.)
Such a system would be a learning organization with adequate feedback loops from multiple sources. Some of the problem we face is that only a limited stakeholder perspective (i.e. political, legal, and self) that doesn't account clearly for the needs of a diverse society. Because feedback is sifted through all these other entities it is often best for police to be reactive versus proactive to environmental change (I'm not saying I agree or disagree but that I understand. Think about it....they don't want to be subject to the "flavor of the month" movements while also not running afoul of greater societal needs. They are stuck sifting through the different opinions; mine included.)
How To Fix When Justice Defaults (A Case Review)?
1.) Owning Responsibility: The responsible party should retract any statements made specifically to harm the target that are not based in fact. No one has the right (official or unofficial) in a smear campaign to intimidate the targets, cut them out of economic opportunities, ensure they can't serve their communities without incurring serious risks from misperception, lack of support and/or equipment, and seeking to ensure social networks are pitched as blameless (not to mention the elusive nefarious goal of splitting society into "Us" vs. "Them")
2.) Train Mistakes and Remove Criminality: Only in the legal jargon of the time is there a concept of "immunity" for criminality. Beyond perversions of law are the truths of society. Good cops that make mistakes should be trained but bad cops that commit crimes should be removed (to maintain the integrity of the shield). We can play with the meaning and words as much as we want but there are essential core truths that apply to all societies and of course the consequences of allowing any system to run counter to the needs of its people. The law may say one thing but society and history will say another. We only need to have an understanding of history and how "protect our own" laws can lead to societal movements (I'm 100% for police and I'm 100% forgiving of mistakes and I'm 100% for removing those engaged in criminal behaviors.)
3.) Reform The Justice System: There is no such thing as a half citizen in the Constitution. As long as we continue to consider a simple majority of society has half citizens we will have distrust issues. What is a half citizen? It is a person that on an official level we give them full rights but on an unofficial "grey area" there will be those who circumvent those rights to ensure they are weighted in performance and outcomes. People who promote half citizen status (i.e. racism and bigotry) have accepted false beliefs about the nature of their country and its people and work often (using their positions) on a subconscious level to undermine certain principles and people when it don't fit their distorted view (Sometimes I wonder about our soldiers and how they may have served their country and have to come back and deal with racism, bigotry, hate and half citizen status by those who have done little to nothing for anyone. It happens and our leadership should stand up for certain essential American principles. We just need to get the obstacles that blind their sight out of the way.)
The Hope:
People stand up for what is right and its a continuous process on pushing for improvements where they are needed. The problem is that we are beyond slow. We recently just passed a law that says its illegal to lynch people (Really? We didn't know better? We should have known 100+ years ago...maybe 1000 years ago.). A young Black boy looks the wrong way at a racist and gets chased down and murdered by a group of "concerned citizens". No one is prosecuted. There have been many more incidents of legal sanction of highly criminal violations of human rights. I think people are beginning to understand that we can't go on this way and meaningful change will soon be here. There must be a commitment to freedom and that people have now seen the disease in the rise of extremism (We have given a blind eye to homegrown extremism because we couldn't see people who looked like us at fault for anything. That becomes a problem when engage in group think, promote only certain types of people, and can't see all the options. We inadvertently nurtured it in the disparities of perception and law.).
There are many who now understand the destructive path of not changing and are taking action. The problem is that there are lots of voices and some of those voices are just as ignorant as those engaged in hate. I support the rule of law and the rights of people (They aren't mutually exclusive. Some of our judges seem to understand that and are making choices to do the right thing. Its refreshing and a sign of hope.)We need our police and we need them to do their jobs (I'm against defunding and may even consider more funding for training, non-lethal weapons, recruitment, citizen reviews and social work.). We want police to be effective and ensure the laws don't stop what they have to do but at the same time the laws protect the rights of citizens to fair treatment. Police are here to serve our communities (not the other way around) and in turn must continuously be connected and responsible to the community within the wider framework of our national values. So I give two thumbs up for policing and at least one thumb down at our pace of reform.
Side note:
No one has to listen to me....I have a Muslim sounding which often means that what I have to say is typically taken with a grain of salt (not barring that in hindsight I have a higher accuracy rating than many others) and even if I'm (i.e. people like me) are doing what I/we believe to be the "right thing" there is typically someone there to judge, block, discredit you (of course not judging themselves through a proper lens!). It has been this way for a long long time. Why I'm vehemently opposed to half citizen status and its destructive nature on our society.
Leadership quality is important in this country and that is based on how leaders think. There are those who have found freedom and there are those who have no idea they are slaves. Its about their personal awareness and ability to navigate their environment and fulfill our duties as independent thinkers (See Socrates Allegory of Cave.) The more you grow, the more awareness, the more rich disparities/beauty become, and the more responsibility you have to push society to be better (Respecting what we are doing well and being honest about what we aren't doing well. That is true regardless of how angry people get when they hear it and how far they are willing to go to double down to silence voices of reason.)
I would probably be remiss If I didn't provide a word of caution that I believe keeping our system focused on truth, justice, and wisdom is the best course of action for everyone; strategically and and in alignment with moral conscious (Ensuring the needle points true north.). I know! I know! He is one of "those" people and doesn't have the right to speak for Americans! ...and those are the unfortunate lessons of life (The "lessons" that are not in the textbooks but yet we intuitively know is behind the curtain of conscious.). BTW...I never actually expected the hypothetical "Justice" to occur...hopeful....but not expecting...there are always a million reasons to not change but only one good reason to embrace positive change. Its a values debate!
Think 10-15 years into the future and ask yourself, "Should we really still be debating this?" There are those on the right side of history and those on the wrong side of history. Unfortunately, we don't always really know until we get there...and then its too late! If our compasses are calibrated correctly we will be ok but if our compass is incorrect we will be on the wrong path/trajectory.
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