I was thinking about how to hold police accountable for their actions, at least in normal police interactions with the public and it occurred to me there is at least one simple rule which if implemented would get rid of the bad apples. It may not be feasible, but it may be the beginning of an idea.
I called a service center the other day and after my call, I was asked to rate the interaction with the call center person on several variables and among them were did they fully explain everything to me, were they polite and were they helpful. It occurred to me that a similar type of system could be implemented for interactions with police not resulting in an arrest, not during dangerous situations (bank robberies, etc.) and not during riot situations (peaceful protests are not riot situations) with two changes – all officer’s badge numbers must be prominently displayed at all times while on duty (white letters on a black background) and there must be a website that the people who have the interactions with the officer can report on. It would include a check list and an area for describing the interaction. At this point, the police would want to wear cameras and keep them turned on to protect themselves. These reports would need to be reviewed daily. The policy changes would have to have real teeth in them, with salary and even livelihoods dependent on them.
The rules on how to evaluate the reports would have to be developed but at a minimum, if an officer consistently receives bad reviews, they need to be pulled out of rotation and made to attend additional training. If the bad reviews continue after the training, well it’s up to the city (notice I didn’t say just the police department) whether they want to risk the liability or not because the reviews would become a part of any lawsuits.
It’s the same way in my job. If I interact negatively with the people who use my services, it will be reported to my management and I will hear about it or even get terminated. I try to make sure all my interactions are positive and I’m as helpful and informative as I can be. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat. It’s time information flowed both ways in public service.
Now let’s take the case of racial profiling. If a police department has a policy of racial profiling, the officers will consistently get bad reviews. If the great majority of officers consistently get bad reviews then the policy that’s causing this will need to be changed as the officers will not enforce the policy or the department will have a high turnover. Another aspect is with the time and cost of training an officer up to speed. I’m sure the departments will determine the traits that the most successful officers have and start hiring people with those traits. That can’t be a bad thing. Any officer with experience trying to get a job with a different city’s police department will have positive reviews as part of the criteria for employment. In other words, the bad apples won’t be able to hide at the bottom of the barrel anymore.
This may not work but I think it’s worth a try and in the long run will result in better policing. What’s your opinion?