He makes a good point that we need to hire more officers and we need them to come from different backgrounds. We have some cultural issues in recent years as big data and greater awareness have exposed some long term needed reforms. Those reforms are underway but the PR of policing has taken a hit during this time. Likewise, in a tough job market we have issues as it relates to recruitment in general so change to reverse trends is likely.
Its not an impossible situation but there are some challenges we can't really ignore for much longer. What one might consider is to ensure reforms are complete and then begin to work on the image of policing by recruiting from as diverse backgrounds as possible (Its not about hiring a particular type of person but ensuring the culture is appropriate to the tasks at hand and your recruiting, training, and retaining broadly to master challenges.) .
This isn't just about diversity alone, as it is also about mending communities and bringing them and police onto the same page (We all got kids and families so communities and police have responsibilities to work together and solve this problem. Its difficult to do that if our politicians hype up these differences, authority is misused or people refuse to positively engage when given opportunities. We are one people and need to solve this as one people.)
Sometimes change seems like its chaotic and weakens policing/institutions but that is not necessarily true when we reach forward to meeting opportunities that lay just over the horizon (There is a place where police and people can see eye-to-eye on developing peaceful thriving neighborhoods and opportunities. I call it the philosophical Axis Mundi. Its silly but basically when I use this term, I mean it as an answer that was not thought of before until people took steps to share their perspective and learn in a way that leads to wisdom, knowledge, and moral alignment. In other words, an essential insight into the deeper nature of things. Most cultures think of it as a place where heaven (s) and earth connect and I wasn't really going that far out. I was thinking just where things sort of make sense and it clear sight of a situation or problem. We study something and we come to understand things that would not have been possible without taking the right steps to gain insight. Its similar to "aha. I understand" that contributes to societal wisdom. Simplicity of answer is often more true then the complexity of the discussion. See the historical and not layman's term. The History of Axis Mundi). It all depends on how we handle situations like this. (I support police 100% and civil rights 110%. We can create opportunities but that won't happen in shout down matches.)
Universalizing our police and justice system can lead to greater buy in as the rules apply to everyone, are wise in their application and focused on helping others (Sometimes help is prison, sometimes its a scolding, sometimes its counseling, sometimes its a job, but it should always an opportunity to help. It should never be paramilitary or culturally ethnocentric. I mean, it should not be unless you want people to distrust it and abandon it as a supported institution of a free society) Impressions and political game playing often put protesters and police at odds with each other. This time we can really listen to each other and can adjust those things that are not working to make them stronger so let's not allow people exploit those differences (There is a difference between exploitation and reflecting back more accurate information. One leads to chaos as an end in and of itself while the other leads to greater performance through a more accurate well rounded perspective. Institutions sometimes don't collect the right kind of metrics and/or need to change their metrics to see a problem better.)
It is a time for new policing ideas and I would love to see heartfelt contributions by marginalized groups that may have been distrustful of police to contribute their knowledge to improve the whole system. Improve it for the police and the people. An essential question is, "What would make you trust and engage?" Its a simple question but is somewhat profound in orientation of switching from adversarial to co-builder (Right now, despite the sour grapes everyone is looking for solutions; or at least should be. It is an opportunity for minorities to be concise and contribute. i.e. For example, a complaints button might be on the main department webpage and vetted by someone outside the department. Bad idea, good idea...that is a debate but its one way to raise feedback, increase transparency and lower retaliation.)
At the end of the day, I believe everyone wants safe communities, responsive policing, and to raise the trust level of our institutions so they function with greater support and outcomes (i.e. a strong return on tax payer expenditures through shared goal focus and adaptable improvement). (We want our institutions to function well and have high trust through shared interest in their performance.)
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