The Henderson County NAACP wants to reform law enforcement policies, following two hyped media events. Although it is preposterous for the public to presume to know who was provoking whom before the cameras started rolling and witnesses started talking, the argument is that racist cops have been picking on blacks forever. If so, the problem is with racism and not cops.
Here’s what the HCNAACP recommends:
- Special prosecutors not politically connected to local police departments who will handle police shooting challenges.
- Mandatory training on racial bias and police use of force.
- Required use of police officer body-worn cameras to record police-civilian encounters.
- Better accountability of the use, and potential distribution and use, of federal military weapons by local law enforcement.
- The universal use of dash cameras in patrol vehicles.
- Training for residents to educate them about their rights when dealing with police.
- Greater and more effective community oversight over local law enforcement and policing tactics.
- The establishment of a law enforcement commission to review policing tactics that would include representatives of the most impacted communities.
Of course I oppose the call for more touchy-feely, more government, more bureaucracy, and more impediments to keeping the peace. My history courses leave me shuddering at the thought national police. However, there are a few good ideas in there, such as the bit on training people to know their rights (10 points) and hints that something ought to be done about police state creep.
As an aside, I seem to remember Glenn Beck saying there would be racial turmoil in the near future. That was a few months back. My point in saying so is: Don’t be a dupe.
