My police reform plan. Feel free to critique

[ecstatic]

1. Abolish traffic stops that aren't related to an immediate threat to public safety
If my headlight is not working or you think I blew a stop sign, take a pic of my plate and submit the dash cam footage, then let county officials contact me through the mail. No need for an armed person to stop me and potentially kill me.

No more stopping people who are simply going with the flow of traffic.

Absolutely NO MORE "you fit the description" stops. They're 99% bullshit and must come to an end ASAP.

The only traffic situations requiring a police stop are dangerous situations in which a motorist is putting other drivers in danger with reckless driving. Once the driver is pulled over, STAY IN YOUR CAR and complete the stop via radio or phone. Cops already have all of the information they need. No need to interact in person unless it's clear that the driver is either a child, inebriated, or if the tag information doesn't match the actual car.

To make for a smoother transition in removing cops from most traffic stops, DUI offenders should only get 1 chance before their license is suspended for a year.

2. Abolish degrading strip searches and all other gross human rights violations
If you don't have a warrant, you have no right to search my body or my car. If you do have a warrant, that type of searching should be done in a PRIVATE SETTING and in the presence of an advocate who will make sure that nothing is illegally planted.

3. Ban cities from making money off the backs of civilians from frivolous tickets, etc. Keep a log which includes the demographics of motorists who are given tickets. The DOJ must cite and fine cities that have unfairly targeted a group for fines and tickets. No driver should be given more than $250 in tickets in a year's time (call it an Out of Pocket max).

NO MORE JAIL due to unpaid traffic tickets, etc.

4. Ban all no knock warrants. A civilian advocate should be present during all visits to a home. Abolish all flash bangs, etc. from use during visits to the home of suspects. Any mistakes that lead to a citizen's death (going to the wrong address, attempting to arrest someone who is already behind bars, etc) should come with criminal penalties

5. If a cop is on a school campus, it should only be for the purpose of protecting students from actual criminals. NO MORE arrests and/or assaults of children by police should be allowed.

6. No high speed chases unless a specific crime has been identified that endangers the public and/or a specific person (kidnapping).

7. If an officer's body cam is turned off during an encounter that leads to a civilian complaint, injury, or death, the officer is automatically charged. Period. No more games.

8. Threatening to shoot or kill a civilian is an automatic fireable offense.

9. Obviously, no more shuffling of bad cops to new police departments.

10. Cops are also required to follow traffic laws and may be ticketed for failure to do so. No more using flashing lights just to run a red light, etc.

11. Undercover cops may not accost a civilian without a civilian advocate present.

12. Every tasing or use of physical force must trigger an automatic investigation.

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Thoughts? Doable? Not doable?

[ahimsa]

1. 3b. No ticket quotas

To expand your point a bit! Good list to start with, thanks!

[ecstatic]

6. Agreed! No quotas! nt

[VarryOn]

2. Good ideas...another one...

maybe disarm some of the police they way they do in the UK. At least think about it. It maybe that we have too many guns out to make that feasible.

[ecstatic]

7. That's a good point.

Preventing regular civilians from even having to interact with on-duty police seems to be the best way forward, at least until we tackle the gun problem in this country. Disarming crazy Americans probably needs to be done first? But I don't know.

[SamKnause]

3. All judgments against police should be paid by the Fraternal Order of Police Union.

No taxes should be used to pay for police misconduct.

[Freddie]

4. Have a police abuse database

Like the child abuse database. Every applicant to a police force has to have a background check including an abuse clearance. Similar to hiring a school district employee, would be ineligible to hire with an abuse record. That would keep bad cops from moving on to the next town.

[ecstatic]

8. +1000. Can't believe this isn't already done! nt

[Ron Green]

5. Your plan seems to be designed toward private vehicles.

I think it's important, in considering a real overhaul, to discourage vehicle miles. I wish cops were out walking, and I wish more people were out walking as well.

[ecstatic]

9. I think "walking cops" should not be allowed to carry guns

Mace and maybe tasers.

[SKKY]

10. I have a couple more ideas...

1. Require all police, like most lawyers, to perform a certain number of "pro bono" hours of work in the community.
2. Require all police to undergo annual "re-certification" on areas to include escalation of force, crowd management, etc. Not just yearly "refresher" training. Actual re-certification.
3. Provide "specialization" pay based on attained qualifications. In most departments, a Sgt. who is out of the street protecting civilians makes the same amount of money as a "desk Sgt" who essentially shuffles paperwork. Fix this.

My Brother-in-law is a cop here in (A city that recently spent a lot of time in the news). These are some of the recommendations he thinks might help because, like most of us, he agrees that not everyone is cut out to be a cop. He has been one for 23 years now and has never had a complaint issued against him, so I tend to think he gets it right most of the time.