It isnt so simple, in the context of police shootings at least. The actions of the community are critically important for improving police/citizen relations.
There are situations where historically good cops, that are themselves minorities, jump to conclusions about the actions of a black suspect and pull the trigger. You wont be able to teach away that instinct to protect one's own safety when they are put in situations that are repeatedly proven to be dangerous. Police see the same videos of citizen on citizen crime where out of nowhere a gun is pulled and somebody is dead. In fact I bet they see it more because our media doesn't often show black on black crime in the news.
So not only do we need to weed out the bad cops, we need to change the expectations of the good cops. The only way to do that is if the situations improve and become less dangerous, not if the good cops simply stop being afraid. That is an unfair expectation and will simply not work.
You are right. The actions of the community are very important. To me, the actions of the police are even more critically important for improving police/citizen relations.
How does that same community deal with cops openly abusing their power and getting away with it?
That would make even the good citizens hopelessly turn bad.
I mean, the officers in the Rodney King verdict. All not guilty....what has changed in the last 30 years to show we are trying to earn back the trust of those citizens?
Body cams are a start. I think they are worthwhile but I think they are more so used to protect cops form false accusations....and yes, they do confirm a cops side of the story which is very helpful.
In regards to police and excessive force you can take an major article from 1986, 1996, 2006 or 2016. Just the same story...nothing has really changed except the date.
It would be helpful to tell not only blacks but all people...here is what we doing to try to curb all the police killings of civilians.....because you know.....we don't WANT to kill you all.
I mean, shouldn't that be something all departments strive for? Not resorting to killing people?
How about...hey America...instead of giving all our officers a gun after 18 weeks of training we are now going to make sure our officers show they are capable of handling a gun AND the stressful situations of being a police officer....simultaneously
From now on the 1st 2 years an officer will work with no gun but will work with a more experienced officer that does have a gun.
If a gunless officer receives a substantiated claim of excessive force towards a perp in those 2 years, he will go into a program that will closely monitor the officer and that program will determine if the 2 year gunless period needs to be extended or if you just are not suited to carry a gun. I mean, if you have a hard time controlling your aggression maybe giving you a gun isn't the best idea. In those 2 years valuable lessons can be learned on how to handle situations that do not resort to simply pulling a gun on someone.
I know, you are right. This is crazy and will get a cop killed....but maybe it will save a cop from wrongfully or prematurely killing someone. Something I am sure most cops would want.
It's not a perfect idea but isn't it SOMETHING to show they are trying to fix a problem everyone agrees exists?