The Importance of Thoughtful Community Policing: A proper pro-American perspective.

Policing is a necessary part of our society and even if we adjust the support services and how we utilize their capacity they will still be an important part of society. In my experience, the vast majority of police do the right thing and act the right way in a way that improves community relations and seeks to improve safety and security of our residence.  Some couldn't care less about their roles because its not about serving others. Their values not at the standard they need to be for that important and serious position of authority. Yet, we struggle with this issue in a way that it creates serious divisions of perspective that cut right through society.

Policing is like a science that has developed as a method of protecting our basic most fundamental rights such as life, liberty and pursuit of happiness (It is a deep concept understood by knowledgeable philosophers that created the America in transition we know today.). There is a 20-30% out there who were attracted to the field of policing for the feeling of power that such authority provides them. Most of them can be managed through proper departmental cultures, expectations and values. Even in the best of environments there will be some who misuse their authority. These are the one's we should be concerned with as they violate everything this country did, does, or will stand/stood for. As Nietzsche says it well when he discussed der Wille zur Macht or Will to Power

“Where I found the living, there I found the will to power; even in the will of servants I found the will to be master.” - Nietzsche

Of those who want this power they also are the one's who misuse that power or coordinate that misuse to cleans people out of their society. Sometimes it is subtle such as a fib that ensures you get the "bad guy" and other times its wholesale intentional character assassination and intimidation tactics to ensure the person never challenges their distorted extremist leaning view of what it means to be an American. (I do think there will be laws passed that make it a crime for officers to know of crimes their fellow officers are committing and not reporting it up the proper chains. When it comes to misuse of authority there is no greater duty then to serve the community and not the silence. In the long run one will lead to a fixed system and the other to a broken one.)

(Before we go on in this discussion for those politicians and others who are accustomed to not thinking about things in a divergent way. I'm 100% for police and 100+10% = 110% for civil rights. The way to manage the ship going forward is a 1:1.1 ratio. Why? Because the ultimate needs are to society and not to the institution itself. This means that all institutions must bend a knee to what is in the best interest of society. If we lock that knee in an immovable splint with something called "immunity" for any crime then we have effectively switched the roles and started moving in another direction in thought with its own chain of temptations. Anyway.....that's my "American" opinion on which rests at least a kernel of truth.)

Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot

Alexander Cutting the Gordian Knot, 

oil on canvas by Jean-Simon Berthèlemy.

1767

Now, for those who subscribe to a very limited sense of American constructions with certain racial and religious underpinnings the "other people" are seen as almost always the problem (Perceptual distortion based in false symbolisms and anchoring. Education and training can help but a bad soul is a bad soul.). It justifies anything and any behavior because the goal is not to help the community but show your superiority over those who you deem less worthy and unable to stand up for themselves and/or whom constitute a threat through challenging other poor behaviors. (Same ugly stuff most religious philosophers talked about ever since we became conscious of ourselves. Remember the whole casting stones thing? A type of Gordian Knot.)

(For fellow thinkers and pro-democracy Americans/"Americans" we know that we must look beyond symbolism to the core of what democracy means and our responsibility to ensure that it stays strong. Ceci n'est pas une pipe)

In general theory terms, As we develop in intelligence as
a species, our society develops, and
in turn our institutions change to meet that higher order thinking.
When institutions don't change we have an evolutionary 
problem that will force such institutions to change or 
we as a society begin to decline.
In other words, we as a society are capable of 
adapting to challenges or we are not. Proof in pudding.
Its not my theory, so don't 
get upset a me! Please discard if you feel you 
are already at top of evolutionary chain. You won't 
get it anyways! 😆
Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature (1863)
Source: A World Without Darwin
P.S. Empathy is one of the first scientific 
signs of intelligence. There is a whole host of
things that go into it in terms of cognitive 
reversals and the ability to sense others. So....
If someone is in a role and doesn't show
empathy in word and action should
they be kept in such positions of authority?
Think of it from an adaptability standpoint.
That is where good "moral conscious" is in alignment
with law.

I support community based policing, more training, greater support services, providing resources and recruiting from a diverse background to ensure there is breadth of thought and adaptability of values. What I do not support is misuse of the badge for personal, clan, or racial/religious distortions. Why? Because The Shield has value and that value is based in our belief in that we all have the same ultimate focus. When officers engage in immoral and/or illegal behaviors (and perhaps some in their departments are afraid to speak out.) it reduces the respect and good will of the people and that can reduce institutional support from a sociological long-term perspective (i.e. the growing pressure to reform and improve accountability. Its embedded in our species to adapt to challenge.). 

We are having issues today because we do not have the mechanisms to remove bad officers before they damage their departments and units. The answer to our most difficulty and highly politically charged problem is to build trust through integrity that comes from maximum community involvement and management of such departments (Even more important if one started going down the wrong path and in some ways encourage others to follow. The difference between those who respected the shield and those who didn't is that they walked the talk in their values when it most counted. See proof in pudding above.) 

* This article is designed to help the reader think about the difference between right or wrong. It can be hard when so many people spew anything forward regardless of its benefit or truth. What you see above is an indication of what you believe and the way you will walk in our national development. After you walk a few miles and then look back over your shoulder and you will see the wheat from the chaff. "see"? 💁🙊💨

P.S. precisely how we deal with these issues when they are obvious and apparent will determine our deeper value system and likely our future course. I believe in the universal democracy if we can tackle theses challenges head on! There will be some from the lowest ranks of society all the way to the top who will lean one way and some who will lean another. Therein lies the danger as  those who lack humanness and a sense of deeper purpose take roles they never were qualified for.  Think of Santos as an example of how high values and leadership are not always associated. There are good people pushing him out and some want him to stay because he can press buttons blindly. There is a lack of deeper values among some of our leaders and their ability to keep the system functioning in the best interest of all of societal stakeholders. These problems as they relate to poor policing by some are easy to solve but the politics of it all confuse the real essential long-term issues with ignorance.  Am I lying?