Reply To: What kind of police reforms do we need?

Yes, transparency in police practices and personnel records is important but real change requires requires the following:
1. Police departments need to establish and publish arrest “Rules of Engagement” (hor lack of a better term) detailing all procedures for interaction with the public at large as well as with arrestees.
2. Individual Police officers need to be held personally responsible, both criminally and civilly, for injuries and offences committed in violation of the published rules.
3. As far as the use of deadly force is concerned, police officers should not fire their weapons unless they, themselves, are fired upon or a citizen is in imminent threat of death or grave bodily harm. I have often heard police officers claim that “their first job is to get back safe to their families at night”. Wrong! A cop’s first job is to make sure that I and other citizens get back safe to our families. If the cop can do it to, great, but it’s not in his job description.