14 Ways to Stop Police Brutality
and
Bring back GOOD Cops
2. Police are entrusted with an extraordinarily high degree of authority; they should also be held to an extraordinarily high standard of conduct. Therefore, institute a mandatory minimum prison sentence for convicted police officers of DOUBLE what the sentence would be for non-police officers.
3. Remove the “extra penalties” for killing a cop. It makes them feel like they’re better than everybody else. Why should it be any worse to kill a cop than to kill a teacher, or a firefighter/EMT, or a grocery store stock boy?
4. Establish an independent special investigator/prosecutor to handle ALL cases of police-involved injury or death. We don’t let the MAFIA investigate itself, why should cops investigate themselves?
5. Disband SWAT teams. They were SUPPOSED to be for very limited use like violent felons holding hostages. Now they’re using SWAT teams for everything including school crosswalk guards. Enough is enough.
6. Ban the Taser. The taser was SUPPOSED to be a less lethal alternative to a firearm in situations when lethal force would be justified. Now cops a tasering kids who throw spitballs, and tasering people to death. It was a bad idea. Trash it.
7. Limit the firepower. A .38 revolver with 6 shots is more than enough to do the job. Ask all those old-timers who never even fired their gun ONCE in their whole career. It’s not necessary to empty an entire 17 round magazine every time you fire. You shoot somebody one time, maybe that’s self-defense. Two times --- maybe even three times could be self defense if the guy’s a 6’6” 300+lb armed PCP addict. You shoot a regular guy 7 or 8 or 9 times, that’s not self-defense. That’s intent to kill. There was a DAMN GOOD REASON that Andy only let Barney have ONE bullet -- and had to carry it in his POCKET. Think of all the lives THAT policy would have saved.
8. Establish a national police-offender registry. Once you’re convicted of assault, or civil rights violations, you lose your LEO job permanently, and you may not be a police officer anywhere else in the United States in ANY capacity – not store detective, not private investigator, not night watchman, not dog-catcher,
9. Institute FOOT PATROLS, and require cops to LIVE in the neighborhoods they patrol. The world looks different when you're anonymous, riding around in a tank. It’s harder – though not impossible – to brutalize people whom you know by their first names – and who know where you live.
10. SCREEN APPLICANTS. Require the Hare Psychopathy Checklist be used to assess ALL applicants. Random test for steroids.
12. Let Cops -- apart from neighborhood foot patrols -- function like firefighters: stay in your station unless we call you for help. You don’t see firefighters cruising around looking for fires, hosing down anybody who looks like he might have a match on him.
13. Traffic
violations aren’t crimes unless someone gets hurt. Only then should it be
necessary to summon law enforcement, along with EMS. All other infractions
should be non-arrestable offenses, and can be handled by UNARMED traffic police
(think: meter maids). Traffic violations should not be a FISHING LICENSE. Nobody should get shot over a broken tail light.
14. Arm
and educate the citizens. You have a RIGHT TO RESIST UNLAWFUL ARREST. You have
a right to make a citizens’ arrest when a felony is committed in your presence.
When you see a cop murdering somebody, put down the fucking camera and arrest
him.
Liberty & Justice
sj
