Use of Force……Why Is The System Broken?

Photo by Ricardo Arce on Unsplash

So, I struggle these days when I have conversations with people regarding my views on the police department. There are people on one side saying that all police are crooked and abusive. You have the other side saying that all police officers are angels and that the public had it coming. And, if you are so inclined to take the middle ground saying not all cops are bad and not all cops are good, well then you are labeled wishy-washy neutral who doesn’t want to get involved. I guarantee that every single one of us fits in one of these categories, possibly fluctuating between one and the other during recent times.

I personally have many friends who are married to police officers, detectives, corrections officers, etc. I can tell you that we would not be associating with them if these police officers were caught mistreating people. I personally know and know of multitudes of good police officers. Hell, if I my wife and I weren’t healthcare professionals with children, basically in another life, would have wanted to be one. That being said, I cannot support what is happening in any way. I cannot even wrap my head around the crazy disregard for life that is running rampant through the department as a whole.

So I am stuck being one of those middle people knowing that there are many police officers that really are here to strictly protect and serve. But, I do not see enough of these good people stopping the bad ones from hurting innocent people. So, no I do not believe that all cops are bad, but I do believe the system is broken. A broken system will never result in change, because it is BROKEN.

I was surprised to find out that there are 8 basic regulations put in place that are suppose to protect the citizens that the police serve. This also helps keep the police officers from blurring lines, which is a risk when you are accustomed to finding the bad in people. It is a hazard of their job. Just like a hazard of being an Oncology nurse for me was that I became a bit numbed to death for a while because it was all I saw. You get the point. We have to guard our minds and hearts to the hardening that happens as a byproduct of being in this world.

Ok, so what actually surprised me was the fact that the rules and regulations are not enforced or recognized the same in every police district. I came across this website that I will list below so that you can do your own research. But, basically the research that is being done shows that if all police departments upheld all of the rules listed, there would be a substantial cut in police brutality. How many leaders in the history of the world have escaped becoming egomaniacs with too much power when they were unchecked. The same principle applies here. I encourage you to check it out. All 8 of these regulations have failed to be universally implemented and upheld per the report:

1. Failing to require officers to de-escalate situations, where possible, by communicating with subjects, maintaining distance, and otherwise eliminating the need to use force
2. Allowing officers to choke or strangle civilians, in many cases where less lethal force could be used instead, resulting in the unnecessary death or serious injury of civilians
3. Failing to require officers to intervene and stop excessive force used by other officers and report these incidents immediately to a supervisor
4. Failing to restrict officers from shooting at moving vehicles, which is regarded as a particularly dangerous and ineffective tactic
5. Failing to develop a Force Continuum that limits the types of force and/or weapons that can be used to respond to specific types of resistance
6. Failing to require officers to exhaust all other reasonable means before resorting to deadly force
7. Failing to require officers to give a verbal warning, when possible, before shooting at a civilian
8. Failing to require officers to report each time they use force or threaten to use force against civilians (police use of force project)

I do not claim to have all the answers. If I did, I would be queen of the universe, with probably too much power right. Human nature is human nature is human nature guys. There are people who like power and there are people who are peacekeepers. I don’t know how to completely revamp the police department without starting from scratch with all of the appropriate rules and a very different method of selecting and educating the ones chosen for the job. It takes a ton more psychology training in my opinion than they are currently receiving. But that is a blog for another day. We need a solution and we cannot keep saying someday maybe we will have one. Change has to start now. How do we get there? Maybe start by reading this report and see where our problem solving skills lead us. It will take all of us. I will talk to you soon, be safe.

Police Use of Force Project