The US is a strange place. Rightly so that we are a strange country with even stranger dialogs. It isn’t a matter of right or wrong for me. It is a matter of truth, facts, and solutions. I have seen both medias showing their view of the protests. Their view on what the discussion should be. I think we as Americans are in the middle of a problem turned into civil unrest. Its a return to the race riots of the 1960’s as far as I can tell. We live in a time of great potential. Yes, we can do so much now that people are listening. But we need to understand the problem as it is, not how we want it to be. Then we can find the boldness to try something else.
Defund the Police??????I see that there is a growing problem among the various racial groups and ethic groups with the police. It to me was an eventual behavior. When you give some citizens the power and control over other citizens you create power. Power corrupts and seemingly absolute power corrupts absolutely. There have been several officers who have violated the public trust. We have all seen the YouTube clips. From ignorantly violating the laws they swore to protect. I see the anger and fear for people from years and years of abuse of the public they should be serving and protecting. It would on its face look valid to defund the police. I almost believe that but I have a big problem with that. We need some type of protection from those who violate the laws. we does that leave us?
Maybe we should break the cause of the issue into two smaller issues. We should start by having people not in a government look at the cause of the economic down turn that festers and increases crime. We need to look at education in those areas. We need to look at the moral fiber of that community. Then the government could pass budgets for the areas and serve the underserved communities. We need to really look at crime and figure out what we can do to minimize it. Until we can fix the broken communities we will need the police. Someone needs to stand up for things. We need to look at splitting families. Where fathers are and aren’t. See what works and what doesn’t. This is a long term view for assessing the causes and implementing a solution.
In the meantime while we do that and experiment to get it right. Which would be much easier than waiting for a government that fails us. We can ask for everyone’s help to be a country of liberty and freedom. It really doesn’t matter who is to blame. We just need to fix it. We need to look at it and see what we can do in every community. And we need to realize what works in Portland may not work for Chicago. We should work block by block methodically. Let the community tell us what it needs. Assess their request and make sure we aren’t repeating mistakes. We need to change the idea of giving worthless promises to people. That is a long step one. What do we do in the intern? That is going to be a several step solution.
One, Fully Fund the Police. Not to hire more officers but give them more tools and training to avoid abuse of power. We should find better nonlethal tools. The Bolo or anything else we can dream up to prevent people from being shot. Then need to look at a new model of policing. One where safety of citizens is key. What if we took a an old idea and a new idea. We make those officers who provide services to live in those areas. Nothing makes the neighborhood a little better when officer friendly walks his dog. He says hi and waves. He becomes part of the community he serves. It is his community now. Do you see the beauty of that.
Second, take the state and city ability to collect fees and fines off traffic stops. Because that has become an income stream for many cities. I lived in the Chicagoland area for years. I still have no idea how a 50 dollar fine becomes 250 dollars. I believe it is the stream of money that makes the courts and jails full. When policing is a business, the officer because a glorified tax assessor. The court system is laden with fines and fees. I won’t pretend to be able to break the profit and loss statement of the courts. When you couple that with the attorney fees, filing fees, and the walkthrough the court house fee; you get a money handler and business instead of justice. We spend so much of the officer’s day on those items, that the rest is very little about safety and more about paperwork. How can that work without burnout, corruption, and discrimination? It needs to change.
Third, a real tribunal made of real people. I believe we should let people decide what is right for their community. People should be able to fire and bad officer as easily as firing a bad plumber. We have let Union contracts control the process; rather than the people who should. I truly believe most officers are solid individuals trying to help. I believe that some have lost their way. I don’t know if all of them can be saved, but they are Americans and worthy of the effort. We are asking people to protect and serve us; we should give them some credit for that. We should ask the police to medically retire any officer who is unfit to serve. Now, here comes the kicker.
Fourth, Limit Hours and Increase pay. What’s the difference between a doctor and a cop. They both save lives. The education is less for an officer. By 4 years or how ever long medical school is. They both have to work in the field for years before they can work on their own. They don’t get even close to the same pay. We should pay people of their value in services. Not to mention teachers are way underpaid. But don’t you think if we spent the money recruiting the right person to be an officer, we would have better officers. No more than 8 hours total for a shift. If you have time to enjoy your life; you are generally more happy. Happy people act and think differently than unhappy people.
Fifth, No One Goes It Alone. That is right. I am in favor of 2 in a car to 1 left alone. Two people who know each other and work together can better work to a common goal. Some higher crime areas may need more units but no one can go it alone. In my military service, we took care of each other. Looked out for RPGs and landmines together. Even when given a lawful order; our Commander would always say “If anyone has a better idea, Speak Up”. I guess most civilians and other branches really don’t believe that Marines are smart enough to figure what works. Our whole job was to protect and defend the US. Yes, some marines are horrible and mentally misguided. Most of them are not. The point is that we understood the 2 man foxhole. We took care of each other and still obeyed the laws.
When we finally open up to the dialog that we have been denying; we will pull this together as a country. We will work towards the day when we can stand hand in hand. Brothers, sisters, LGBTQ+ members, transgender, black, white, asian, hispanic, and anyone else I forgot can stand up and say we can do anything. My 7th grade English teacher would often say that the motto of her army unit was “the difficult we will do right away; The impossible will take just a little longer”. SGT. Baker in the Marines told me ” don’t come in here with a problem, unless you have a solution”. He never meant it to be the right or only answer. To him the solution was the willingness to have ideas and be open to ideas. Shouldn’t we all?
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BeTheAdventureOfLife 