Are There Ways to Improve Policing and Reduce Crime?

 Police reform is something that is unlikely to go away and there are lots of people interested in the topic from pro to anti policing (polarization of thought). People like me are always looking to find solutions and why we are very neutral and practical on such issues many others are not. Policing should not be a political issue but a problem to work on to enhance its functionality and maintain alliance to its central purpose. I have met many good police and a few bad ones in my life and one way or another we need them so lets work on coming up with good solutions. As insane as that sounds..... 

Questions often include:

1.) How do we make it easier to catch criminals to keep the streets safe?

2.) How do we ensure poor police are removed and good police promoted (baring reasonable mistakes)?

3.) How do we encourage young to join policing?

4.) How do we encourage proper staffing so we can give officers a break and help them manage the workload so as to reduce mistakes and encourage thoughtful solutions to issues?

5.) How do we ensure integrity throughout the whole system?

6.) How do we get the community involved in reporting crimes?

7.) How do we respect people's rights?

8.) Are there cultural influence that can change and could that come through diversity?

9.) Are there ways to create stronger internal controls and mechanisms?

10.) How do we find ways to support the heath and safety of officers as well as the health and safety of communities?

11.) Should there be stiffer penalties for retaliation both inside and outside departments for reporting wrong doing?

12.) How do we deal with the mentally ill? False police reports, violence, etc...

Policing is a service to the community and respecting/encouraging good cops is half of the battle. The other half is to improve the process and system so the best performance can come forward. We need to be serious and practical in this process. An eye on the bigger ball should be maintained. While politics often impacts decisions, we should move beyond that on both sides to find something that will function and encourage greater system development. The next time you see an officer thank them because letting them connect with others in a meaningful way creates greater perception on all sides of the perspective of what the role of policing should strive for. 

Tax Credits for Volunteer Firefighters and EMS: Good Idea!

This seems like a good idea. Tax credits for volunteer firefighters and EMS can help in recruiting. While most of these volunteers do that to help their communities having a few extra incentives can help encourage more participation. 

San Diego Hate Crime Coalition is Doing the Right Thing!

Hate is a powerful motivator for some and it breaks down society. When we see it happening and we fail to step up to the plate we become part of the problem. That is the same for people, groups, officials or leaders. Genuine leadership draws people together and steps up against hate to preserve what is sacred in our society. Hate detracts from our nation and communities and robs it of opportunities.

We can hope that people come to understand the clear difference between right and wrong. Some will always struggle to understand that. I encourage the next generation of leaders to actively thwart hate in official and unofficial positions by passing new laws and enforcing old ones. I believe developing our national human capital with opportunities for everyone creates net positives.

I applaud their efforts and hope other places also do something similar. The more people are against hate, the more we can teach the rest of society to reject the aphrodisiac and short term highs of mistreating others. We should encourage people to socially look down on hate in all forms.

October 26th, 2023: The US Economy Looks Strong on Four Markers

At present the U.S. economy looks strong and is growing. That is a good thing. Some mixed data but it appears that GDP is rising, inflation cooling, unemployment relatively stable and growth projections up beyond other advanced nations. What would be interesting is if we fixed some of our human capital problems  and take on the rates of emerging markets through higher skill, infrastructure and new technology.

(For the most part I just want to know what happens throughout the rest of the year because I made some projections a few years ago based on an unfinished economic transactional cluster theory that seemed to have panned out. Likely dumb luck, but still interesting to watch.) 

Commerce Department

You can read BEA  Gross Domestic Product October 26, 2023 Statement

• GDP rose 4.9% in Q3 2023
• GDP rose 2.1% in Q2 2023
• GDP was influenced by increases in consumer spending, private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, federal government spending, and residential fixed investment.

U.S. Department of Labor 

Jobless Claims Week Ending Oct. 21, 2023

• Seasonally adjusted job claims up to 210,000

U.S. Treasury Department

The following was quoted from the Treasury Department October 26th, 2023 Press Release

• The United States has seen a particularly strong GDP recovery and is on track to return to pre-pandemic trend growth this year.
• Global labor markets continue to strengthen, and the United States has been especially resilient.
• U.S. inflation has cooled sooner and more quickly than in other advanced economies.

International Monetary Fund

The IMF made some world outlook projections. IMF October 23

• U.S. 2023 growth rate is projected to be 2.1
• Advanced economies projection rate are 1.5
• Emerging markets are 4

How Standing Against Corruption Leads to Community Growth

Corruption is something that can plague societies in such a way that it hampers the growth opportunities of communities and nations. Standing against corruption and building integrity within systems restores trust in those institutions that leads to positive social outcomes. The benefits for tackling corruption fosters greater economic development and engagement that helps communities and societies flourish. It is also noted the corruption and violence (political or otherwise) are often associated and thus tackling one problem could lead to tackling the other as institutions focus closely on their essential purposes and roles. Corruption Perception Index (2022)

Hypothetical Example (Illustrative Purpose Only)

In this example a number of people experienced corruption and mistreatment at the hands of an embedded extremist leaning group and their tertiary social networks. While a few incidents may have brought forward the issue into public conscious, there was a wider group of victims who also experienced similar covert behaviors that ranged from targeting minorities as well as those who stood against such mistreatment all the way over to associated civil outcomes. Eventually, the layers of governmental institutions began to hold misaligned local institutions accountable and return them back into the fold of good governance (The benefits of different independent branches of government and reasonably independent agencies.) 

As the eyes and ears of the community became focused the people rallied to protect their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness through public exposure by bringing forward collectively violations of essential social contracts (The Eagles Eye). Covert behaviors became public record that dragged ill intent from the shadow of darkness into the blinding illumination of enlightenment (Allegory of the Cave of the Republic). A town that was once in decline converted their misfortunes brought by corruption and transformed it into creating a sense of community protection, engagement and a developmental perspective. Something that should make us proud. A free people standing for that freedom together!

Population growth, investment, and more integrity in local institutions took hold in a way that ensured the community didn't suffer the fate of other localities that failed to tackle these issues and found their future prospects slip through their fingers. The Will of the People forced the trajectory of fate to bounce off the bottom and into an upward momentum that benefited their society in a broad based fashion. What was plaguing society was cured through thoughtful reform so the people could reap the rewards of institutions that began to once again serve the greater public good. A success story (Hypothetically)!

Social Environment Impact of Corruption:

There is a wider context to corruption that occurs when poor values sets the standards for others who then begin to mimic or take their moral cues from inappropriate socially learned behaviors. Those on the receiving end of such corruption might find that the rules were radically different for different people creating stifling disparities. They collectively experienced that the disease of moral dilapidation locked them out of opportunities and minimized their meaningful engagement in society. Negative impacts that hampered opportunities for gainful employment as well as things like volunteering and general social engagement through dismissive and active marginalization. 

Furthermore we may find economic hampering where marginalization and misuse of power promoted poverty, lack of trust for local institutions, and general apathy that creates longer term barriers in society that robbed people of their contributions. Thus the impact of not tackling corruption has a profound impact not only on these communities but also on any community where such behaviors have been normalized (at least in part). Social Impact of Corruption on Community Resilience and Poverty (2017)

Educated and Informed Citizens:

Informed and educated citizens are the true patriots of society because they can differentiate between right and wrong as well as flip their rally caps to tackle such issues in new and unique ways. Peaceful and prosocial methods of understand and adjusting corruption leads to higher institutional trust that impacts the foundational benefits of universalized principles. Where obvious violations of rights occurred, people not only recognized them but also mustered their inner power to actively transform their environment for their and their children's futures. What we all should be doing.

Contrary to popular opinion in some circles, it is the process of standing firm on our social contracts and shared values that leads to the overall health of the whole. The people sought proper use of public resources for community development, integrity in local institutions, and a sense of purpose and togetherness. They made that happen in this example. As crazy as it sounds, economic and social development are a matter of many interrelated micro choices that lead to macro outcomes. An educated and informed population feathers higher performing societies. The value of human capital. Education and Institutional Trust (2012)

Rep. Mike Johnson gives first speech as House speaker

Solid speech by the new speaker of the house. Most of the ideas and concepts are likely to resonate with the broader population (If people skip the politics and just think about the core messages). History is in the making at the moment because it likely marks a change of direction, energy, and effort. The process of problem solving will start and that will be the mark of ultimate success and likely be the standard by which such leadership will be viewed and/or judged. 

Of particular interest is that his dad was a firefighter. Firefighting requires a lot of sacrifices and within these families you will often find a lot of true commitment to the lofty principles of serving others. It creates a perspective of the world and a mental filter by which decisions will be made (As a side note President Biden also came from a firefighting family so at a minimum they can share that similarity. I'm a Rino-Dino so hopefully I can say that. No rotten tomatoes please. 🙈🙉🙊)

Everyone has to make their own judgement but I give two thumbs up to the speech. With strong leadership in the House, Senate and Whitehouse we might see some significant positive changes soon. One must look at the total characteristics, beliefs, values and styles of all actors on the scene. Nothing is set in stone but its a good start and hopes are high. A new door cracks open.

A shared national vision among the different parties will be important to undo the damage of hyper politics of the past (Let us keep hyper politics in the past. A wise man once said that the past is just a fading memory but the present and how that creates futures is what makes the biggest difference. Learn from the past but keep the eye just over the horizon. Sorry, I just dribbled some philosophy thoughts. 😬💨). 

UAW and Auto Industry Reach Tentative Agreement

The strike has been going on for at least six weeks and has been a battle of economic pain both for companies and for workers on the picket line. There appears to be some increases with wages, benefits and likely hours adjustments based on some prior UAW comments.  Once a deal is made it will also likely influence heavily and flip negotiations with the other two auto companies as the standard has been set. Generally, one agreement indicates they obtain a certain goal and companies don't want to fall behind their competitors so they often sign quickly similar agreements.

Furthermore, both car company executives and union leaders feel the industry is growing or they would not have made such a deal. There was lift to wages because in one way or another manufacturing is returning back to the U.S., skilled labor supply is limited, and inflation contributed to worker positions creating decisive negotiation points. The current unique domestic and global market made the iron hot and that is likely why the strategy was to expand strikes so quickly to other plants to create pressure.

In negotiations different sides start with initial suggestions/positions and negotiators work their way through and request information and clarification/documentation until a final deal is made. One might experience lots of brow beating and temper tantrums. Now that a tentative deal has been reached UAW members will vote on the tentative deal and members likely will follow suit with union leadership sentiments. 

This is a whole field of study so you can read about some of the general strategies. I'm sure no one slept much during the process and coffee was on the flow.  Negotiation Process and Structures (2015)

An important human capital question one may ask is, How does the agreement manage and deal with new technology implementation and individual/collective initiative?