So, law enforcement...I have thoughts

If you haven't noticed here in the United States of America (U.S.) we have a police problem, particularly a police violence problem.  Why wouldn't we?  We indoctrinate our children in the formidable years that police are the good guys, that they always have your best interest, that you can trust them, Kindergarten through third grade is loaded with this.  We give them immunity from prosecution.  We give them really high end weapons.  They get to drive cars that are modified to go faster and handle better all while letting them violate traffic laws.  We give them body armor that even our soldiers don't get.  We call them "heroes," "first responders," we have idolized them for decades or longer.

Yet 40% of police are domestic abusers.

Most people don't realize it is legal for police to lie to you.

It is legal for police to rape you if they suspect you are soliciting for prostitution--this falls into the legal to lie to you to investigate the crime you are committing area and finding a good source is hard because so many officers have committed rape.

Now that we have covered a basis of why the police are why they are--basically a power trip--how do we curtail the issues?

First we have to accept that all of the problems are systemic and the only way to deal with a systemic problem is to pull out it's roots.  So we have to acknowledge we have too many laws.

Why do we need both state and Federal laws against murder?  How many weapons laws do we need?  How many drug laws?  Ho many...you get the idea.  So step one we pass an amendment that wipes the legal slate clean:

We the people in order to bring order to these United States do hereby & forthwith declare that all laws & executive orders predating this amendment be hereby revoked in perpetuity.  That the laws outlined herein be in effect forthwith & that all subsequent laws must be reaffirmed every six years after having been read aloud to the assembled legislators at each vote.

 

That no law be longer than can fit on a single eight & a half inch by eleven inch piece of paper, the margins having been set to no less than one half an inch, the font used being Garamond at a point size of 14.

 

That all future laws be constructed in simple English so all may understand them easily. 

 

Executive orders shall be in effect for a term of 90 days and during that time must be reviewed in open session of Congress to either be allowed to run out on their own or be instilled into law by a vote of not less than 70% of currently seated members that have been voted into their respective office by their constituents.

 

The penalty of death cannot be issued except as outlined in the preceding paragraphs of this constitution and can only be issued by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives otherwise life in prison is the harshest punishment to be given. 

 

These laws are to be in place at the moment of ratification:

Do not murder

Do not rape

Do not bare false witness in a court of law

Any law already set into the Constitution of the United States

Obey all currently in place traffic signs

A law enforcement officer, public safety officer, security guard, shall be bound "To serve and protect."

No law enforcement officer shall work as a security guard

Law enforcement officers shall not wear their uniform off duty even to go home, nor shall they take anything issued for duty home with them.

Law enforcement officers shall when found guilty of a crime receive triple the penalty of a civilian as they know better than to commit a crime.

Law enforcement shall have no immunity from any crime whether committed on duty or not.

When law enforcement commits an action that requires monetary restitution it must be paid by the persons deemed responsible and not by any government agency.

Law enforcement is forbidden to lie and any act of deceit shall be considered perjury and dereliction of duty.

No knock raids and overnight raids are hereby banned and cannot ever be used. 

Now why do we need to do this?  Because there are too many archaic laws and executive orders already out there and they just muck up the entire law enforcement and legal process. It would also take decades to track down, read, vote, and wipe all of those laws from the books whereas this just resets the system to March 4, 1789.

Step 2: now we can begin to deal with the police.  Just like the laws they ALL have to go.  Sound harsh?  Really it isn't; ever hear of the blue wall of silence?  A cop does not rat out another cop.  So all of them go at the same time.  We need two steps to this:

Step one, we completely revamp the police academies.  Emphasis should be on deescalation, conflict resolution, and a focus on to serve and protect.

Step two; all current law enforcement personnel--yes all of them--are relieved of duty and do not in any way interact with the academy graduates taking their place.  Current law enforcement immediately enter long term psychological counseling and retraining be it college or trade school.

Now I am talking every law enforcement person, dispatchers police chiefs, Federal level, all of them.  None shall return to law enforcement, prison guards, or private security, because they will bring old habits back with them.

All former weapons held by law enforcement shall be destroyed.

Special Weapons And Tactical units will be under the order of the state governor and be a portion of the state national guard and no jurisdiction will have direct access to them.  In order to use a S.W.A.T. team the local head constable will need to consult the local government head--mayor, head of counsel, county executive, etc--who will then need to contact the governor of the state; this brings much needed oversight and a check to unmitigated excessive force.

There shall be no appointed Police Chief in any jurisdiction; instead an elected Sheriff will be in charge and by being elected they are accountable to the people.

All officers will wear body cameras while on the duty.  The cameras will be affixed to a frame like a pair of glasses so in review the reviewer sees things as the officer saw them.

Guns should be fitted with a laser sight and a frame mounted camera set forward of the trigger so in review the reviewer can see what was being targeted.  The gun should be fitted with a cellular device that immediately contacts dispatch that the weapon has been drawn and its location.  Dispatch should immediately send back up officers to the location.  If the cellular device detects shots fired then paramedics are immediately dispatched as well.  This makes an officer think a second "do I need to draw my gun?"  It gives back up without the officer ever having to radio in for it.  It puts paramedics on the seen faster too.

Back-up officers on arrival shall take over the situation and initial officer(s) shall stand down and return to base--excess adrenaline has no place in a life or death scenario.  Refusal of the officer(s) to stand down should automatically put them on unpaid disciplinary leave until a citizen's review board has determined the next phase of their career.

All police shall have mandatory psychological counseling each week unless they are on vacation.  We ask these people to do a lot so we don't have to and as a result they see a lot no human should see--ever see the remains of a suicide?  I have and it scars you for life, trust me this is needed.

Police uniforms:

Shall be worn by all levels of the force at all times while on the clock, this includes their Kevlar.

Police vehicles:

Shall all be the traditional black fenders and white body.

Emergency lights shall be externally mounted so the real vehicles are easily known to the general population.

Plain clothes and unmarked vehicles shall be prohibited for all uses

They shall all be equipped with real-time Global Position System tracking

Shall be crushed and recycled at the end of their service life so as to prevent impersonation.

Weapons:

9mm, semi-auto, no more than 9 shots--if you can't stop the problem in 9 shots you have a problem--on hip, again cell equipped so as to tell when drawn or discharged.

Tazer worn to be the easier weapon to draw and again probably needs to call for back-up and paramedics

Seriously from my point of view this is about all any officer needs with them.  Some would argue about night-sticks but how do you transponder them to announce they have been pulled?  Add to that by nature a night-stick has no report so is a silent weapon and many a person has been beaten with them and sometimes to death.

Is this an expensive proposition?  Yes, but if it saves one life be it guilty or innocent or an officer's the cost is worth it and right now too many die in the hands of law enforcement.