Not only is it possible to simultaneously view both the murdering cops as well as the rioting mob as thugs of a similar stripe, it is essential to do if one wishes to be consistent. In a just world, cops would not murder a prone, unresisting suspect. Also in a just world, those same cops wouldn’t refuse to protect businesses and innocent civilians under attack from rioting mobs.
“The world isn’t fair!” goes the Boomer wisdom. Well, at the moment society may be far removed from the ideal of justice, but that doesn’t mean there should be no attempt to push it in the direction of a more just society. And that means a world where our rights are protected not only from the armed agents of the State, but also from rampaging thugs in an advanced state of re-barbarization.
Protect the innocent is a wonderful motto. It’s one that cops should live up to, but also one that we should live up to as well. Protect the innocent, from our fellow citizen as well as from the armed agents of the State. Strip the police of qualified immunity, and forbid the unionization of public employees.
Set up a civilian board that provides oversight of the cops that patrol our streets. Increase focus on empathy training rather than weapons training. Or rather, rework the type of weapons training the cops receive. Take cues from police forces in other nations, like Germany or Norway, forces that kill far fewer civilians than the United States.
Why do some cops appear so eager to draw their weapons as a first resort? Why the epidemic of dog shooting deaths by cops? Every other profession finds a way to deal with territorial dogs without gunning them down.
Why isn’t there an unarmed police force working along side the armed? The cops in my town are strapped with every weapon and tech gadget that they can fit onto their body. Is that really necessary? They aren’t in a warzone, they are working in their own community, among their neighbors, family, and friends.
Make it easier to fire a bad cop, as well as forever ban them from ever again working as a cop in the future. A cop that polices a community should have roots in that community.
These are just a few ideas on how to correct a problem that has been kicked down the road and into the future for decades. Others have different ideas on how to solve it, but the solution must always begin with the divesting of unaccountable power wherever it resides.
