LEGAL MARIJUANA NOW

Policing and Legal Reform Inclusions-

 

First of all, people reading this need to understand that it would be entirely pointless for me to write up and actual bill, as it might appear in congress.  Not only would that be vain and inappropriate, but also a complicated and tedious effort for both of us. Anyone who has ever read an actual bill will remember how unlike common English they truly are.  What I will do is set forth a series of measures and common sense applications that must be included in any legislation concerning legal and law enforcement reforms if we are to have any movement towards equality and civil rights in this country.

 

Police depts. are rife with problem of abuse of power, force and authority. Jails are overcrowded, courts are overused and backlogged. Public defenders are overworked and underpaid. The sound and intelligent remedies described here work to solve ALL of these problem issues.  Real police reform won’t be accomplished by claiming that you’re going to “outlaw chokeholds” or end “no-knock warrants” We’ve already tried that,  Cops can get around nonsense policy adjustments. What this situation calls for is true and holistic reform.  These are all complicated issues, and the solutions are equally complicated, but in this paper, I’ll try to be brief.

 

 

Police Dept. and Law Enforcement officer Reforms

 

1. Regarding police depts. It’s important to recognize that 50% of police depts. have more than 10–15 employees. The counterpoint means that 50% of police depts. do not.  So 50% of the law enforcement officers in America do not work in an environment that fosters the type of problems and conditions that we need to reform.  The reality is that a vast number of police depts. exist without the complicated bureaucracy and troublesome interactions between the dept and the community they serve.  The vast majority of problems with encounters with civilians and indeed fatal use of force issues come from large depts.  There is a reason for this which extends beyond the obvious, “that’s where the crime is”, rationale.  The truth is that the use of force is disproportionately represented in large depts., in part because of the policies, the way they are run, and their malfunctioning command and control processes.   Because of this, it would be supremely wise to CAP THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WITHIN ANY GIVEN DEPT.  Naturally, everyone can’t work in a police dept. of just 10 or 15 people, but there’s no reason why we should jeopardize the safety of the community or the staff of the dept. just to make the claim that one particular police dept is bigger than another.  Like having a single McDonald’s franchise that is 4 stories tall and can service 350 customers per hour is simply unnecessary, having a police dept that is too big too properly manage and control is unnecessary.

 

1. The police have been working improperly for as long time. Assigned armed enforcement officers to situations that require professional courtesy and the finesse of an experienced customer service representative.  That’s why we must IMMEDIATELY INSTITUTE A SYSTEM OF PEACE OFFICERS to handle nonviolent and non-threatening calls for help.  The fire dept. doesn’t have armed agents, and they seem to be able to successfully complete their jobs without killing anyone, getting themselves killed, or consistently violating people’s human and civil rights.  The same can be done with a Peace Patrol.  (insert your better name here_______________) These Peace officers would be not armed with anything but professional training and compassion for their clients.  Their job would be to solve problems, through offering services from the city or govt., private organizations or charities.  They would not be expected or asked to perform in place of police officers.  In some cases, no police would ever need to be notified.  In some cases, police officers might need to be on stand by 3 blocks away…just in case. In actual criminal situations that required police, the police would be called and used. In all other situations, regardless of difficulty, or time consumption, peace officers would be expected to resolve the situation through the means they have at their disposal.  By some estimations, some cities have well over 70% situations that could easily be diverted to a Peace Force. (insert your better name here_______________)  Also, any legislation would need to install strict and serious penalties for both interfering with peace officers, as will as any type of assault on peace officers.  For this reason, I would recommend that Peace officer’s be a federal govt. organization, that can be controlled, trained, and commanded at the federal level, and then, distributed throughout the country and place under local control and operation.  Like the post offices.  This eases and streamlines both the prosecution and oversight.  (For the time being, we’ll refer to this group as the Federal and Community Oversight Commission)

 

1. End the use of dogs as an aggressive police accomplice.  Safety dogs, bomb sniffing dogs, rescue dogs are all a useful and advantageous part of the type of work that law enforcement.  But attack dogs, used to catch and control suspects is both wrong and unnecessary.  In this time, this country should never be willing to use a dog to attack a human being for any reason.  If people can present evidence that there are enough extreme circumstances that they feel it’s necessary to carve out exclusions in this rule, I’ll listen.  I think 100% of Americans would agree that the idea that it’s appropriate to use a dog to search a house or a building for a suspect who is hiding too well to be found by a human simply requires an unrealistic and complicated stretch of imagination.  “Like, what if a guy killed 3 people, and then…” yeah, I get it, in those rare instances, when something so horrible and nefarious happens, and the only viable option is to utilize the skills that dogs possess, that’s a different story, but everyone needs to know, that situation represents less than 1 tenth of 1% of the cases where dogs are used, and even less than that of cases that result in dog attacks. It might also interest people to learn that every year, an average of 15 police dogs die in their police cars due to heat exhaustion, many at the homes of their handlers.

 

4a.) End the practice of stopping people in their car. Before this paper is finished, we will discuss the new method of vehicle safety which will both change the manner in which law enforcement oversees the driving public as well as increases the revenue stream from driving infractions.  But an important point to make is that pulling people over while they drive is, in almost every case other than truly reckless and dangerous driving (example- drunk driving, extreme speeding, etc..) is both unnecessary and wasteful use of police resources.  In today’s day and age, it makes much more sense to record the drivers and their infractions, and then present them with the evidence in a manner that facilitates payment, punishment and true understanding.  With the computer technology available today, the police can proactively catalog and combine multiple offenses and infractions, then call upon any individual to present themselves to make amends or restitution. Having a person come to the local motor vehicle facility to see the video of their infraction, and come up with the proper resolution would both increase the revenue from bad drivers, lessen any opportunity to turn a pullover into a criminal interaction resulting in someone going to jail or being forced to impound someone’s car. And, perhaps most importantly, again, it frees up police officers to work on issues that present a true threat to public safety and protection.

 

4b.) Let’s discuss the proper way to handle driving issues.  Rather than allow police officers to exert their authority over individuals by following them, or pulling them over for a perceived driving infraction, large cities should allow Peace officers to handle this issue.  These officers will be driving specially equipped vehicles which do not stand out or look like police cars. They will have the latest camera technology and the ability to record both vehicles and the drivers as they commit driving offenses. These offenses will be cataloged and kept on record for as long as is necessary. 1 offense may not result in anything, but multiple offenses will trigger a compilation of what has happened and a summons to appear to the motor vehicles dept. for the appropriate resolution.  Remember, 1 unidentifiable vehicle, could easily record 100 offenses or more in a day. Using computer technology to track and catalog these infractions will allow cities to root out chronic problem drivers and simultaneously increase the revenues and efficiency of the process, all while keeping 100% of these issue out of traditional courtrooms.  Literally, a triple win.

 

5a.) Let’s tackle the most complicated issue of all.  POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY for WRONGDOING- For too long, the police have been expected to police themselves. I think it’s fair to say that we all understand that this was always a flawed and misguided approach. We need an outside agency that can be objective and responsive to claims and charges of police misconduct, including all uses of force, deadly and otherwise.  A federal division, working in direct partnership with a local branch responsive to each individual community.  Equipped with individual spokespeople, not associated with the police. Outreach groups who understand the situation on the ground where events happen.  Community leaders who can properly and honestly narrate and frame circumstances from the outset, rather than allow myth or mystery to fester and tarnish the opportunity for understanding.  There should never be a situation where a single police officer has multiple claims of aggressiveness, unjustifiable use of force, or assault on a community member. Every claim must be properly investigated and satisfactorily resolved.  Remember, had officer Chauvin been properly punished for his first complaint, he might have been fired for his second, or, perhaps, he would have changed his behavior, In any event, it’s unlikely he would have been allowed to simply continue racking up complaints, until he finally killed someone.  Unfortunately, racking up complaints, is a typical part of the policing process for most large depts.  Covering up and brushing aside reasonable, negative issues is absolutely part and parcel of normal police operation.  So, consider that while investigating shootings is only part of what we would all hope quickly becomes a diminishing workload, investigating other incidents and claims of misconduct become even more important and available. 

5b.) This means instituting the computerized officer complaint catalog, so that fired officers cannot simply hire on in another dept. dealing with unions so that the protection of officers who violate standards and practices is lost. Committing officers to be bound by the policies they sign and agree to so that terminations are final and complete.  Instituting a form of “malpractice insurance” for police officers. Every officer, like every doctor should be covered for any potentiality regarding their actions while in the service of their city.  It’s not overly burdensome, and it’s only natural that the onus of performing according to your oath of service should fall onto each individual officer.  Of course, any police officer who doesn’t want the burden of this new policy, can always apply to be a peace officer instead.

 

6) BODY CAMERAS-  We can all now see what a difference having video footage makes when dealing with police misconduct. There are already too many instances of contradictory statements, false reporting and perjured testimony by sworn officers.  All police officers should have body cameras activated at all times.  Whether in the car or out of the car.  This will require a new assignment of trained professional to review and store footage.  It’s likely that the vast majority of footage might be disposable. But that will require trained and authorized consensus by people who are objective and unaffiliated.  Specific rules will make these decisions easier. All footage remains on file for 90 days, and then a review process takes place, to see what can and cannot be deleted.  As well as standard and often random review by the Federal and Community Oversight Commission.

 

7.) TRAINING and RECRUITMENT-.  We need officers who properly and accurately represent the communities they serve.  Also, for obvious reasons, all officers should be required to live in the area they serve.  An emphasis should be placed on de-escalation, rather than force.  Currently, police officers spend 16 times more time on the gun range than they do in the training of any kind, let alone, specifically in de-escalation techniques. 

 

8.)   Begin a process of reclamation of records and history by instituting a center for justice and rehabilitation in every large city. Allow all people to access legal assistance at any time, for any reason, regardless of their ability to pay. Think of this as an entire office of public defenders, who are not simply assigned to a current court case. These are people who can help resolve outstanding warrants, driving issues, claims of abuse, work to purge bogus criminal history from someone’s record, and much more. We will have to require actual time or financial support from every licensed attorney in the country, but we must invest a substantial amount of money, federal and state dollars to create an atmosphere where members of the community are treated like legal clients, and assisted in the same manner as any other wealthy legal client.  If we are truly going to have equal justice in this country, we must give everyone equal access to the same justice. 

 

This paper represents the type of comprehensive representation I plan to give the people of the 5th district. My name is Michael Moore and I need you to vote for me on Nov. 3rd.