[ExI] that's why

[Dave Sill]

On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 12:19 AM Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
> They are proposing replacing the existing police force with a better one:
>
> “In Minneapolis and in cities across the US, it is clear that our system
> of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” said Lisa Bender, the
> Minneapolis city council president, at the event. “Our efforts at
> incremental reform have failed, period. Our commitment is to do what’s
> necessary to keep every single member of our community safe and to tell the
> truth: that the Minneapolis police are not doing that. Our commitment is to
> end policing as we know it and to recreate systems of public safety that
> actually keep us safe.”
>
>
> https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/07/minneapolis-city-council-defund-police-george-floyd
>
> Even the poorest, most deprived states in the world generally find the
> resources to maintain a police force.
>

The problems with policing in the US are pretty well-known:

- too-strong police unions - bad actors rarely punished by the police force
- qualified immunity - bad actors rarely punished in civil court
- militarization - military weapons and equipment without real need or
proper training
- excessive use of force - see https://8cantwait.org/
- culture of disrespect for citizens - us vs. them mentality instead of
"protect & serve"
- too many victimless crime laws - the Drug War does more harm than good
- attracts bad actors - if you're racist and/or you want to be a badass,
it's the place to work
etc.

Starting with a clean slate might fix some of them but it won't fix all of
them.

Politicians have to stand up to the unions. Congress has to end qualified
immunity (there's a bill in the House now). Transfer of military equipment
to police needs to stop. I think every use of force or allegation of
wrongdoing by an officer should be reviewed by a citizen's review board
empowered to recommend disciplinary actions, criminal charges, or firing,
and these results should be a permanent part of every officer's record.
State and federal governments will have to decriminalize drugs.

-Dave
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