I had an old statistics professor who liked to say that a computer was a “dumb beast.” It was very powerful and could do many things, but it only did what it was told. It couldn’t think for itself. Policing in the US is the dumb beast; officers wield immense power, and they’re doing exactly what they’ve been told to do.
If you look at policing today and are upset (as you should be), it’s important to keep in mind a couple of things.
First, this isn’t new. In fact, we’re probably living in a time with the most amount of equity and fairness ever in the criminal justice system. There is more transparency and diversity of thought and attention to justice than ever before. But that doesn’t mean that it’s all good now — just that it’s been much worse in the past. All the problems we’re seeing today aren’t because of some drastic shift — we’re simply more aware of what’s happening.
Second, this is what we chose. Only in 2020 has polling started to show that a majority of Americans don’t trust the police. Prior to the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, the majority of the country supported the police, and it was political suicide to suggest any meaningful changes to departments.
The problems of policing have all been worse in the past, and Americans supported the police throughout all of it. In a sense, it’s not fair to blame the police for simply doing what they’ve been told, and what they’ve been rewarded for doing. (In a more accurate sense, it is fair to blame them, because they’re not computers; they are thinking people.)
It also might not be entirely fair to blame the public for this historical support even as the problems were worse. People have been fed a constant stream of disinformation from a huge variety of sources regarding police and crime. News, books, TV, Hollywood — all of these venues have provided (and continue to provide) a twisted depiction of the issue.
As seeming with any major public issue of the day, this one has become deeply divided along partisan lines. This is ridiculous.
It should not be controversial to say that policing is clearly not working for many Americans. It should not be controversial to ask what outcomes we want from policing. It should not be controversial to ask if the police are achieving those outcomes. It should not be controversial to say that we need to make changes if those outcomes are not met.
But bringing up these questions often evokes visceral responses from people. To some, the very idea that the police are doing something wrong is forbidden. It’s often a particularly strong response if the person responding happens to be a police officer.
These questions still need to be asked though. To sit back and do nothing means that the problems will never stop. Policing will not change by itself.
A few days ago, I left my job with a police department. I got into the world of policing because I believed (and I still do) that the police are necessary for a healthy society to function. I also believed that policing would be strengthened by having more people like me in it, who could help steer it toward positive reforms from the inside.
I had hoped after the protests in the summer of 2020 that there would be a real, meaningful push for reform. But all I’ve seen has been more of the same, coupled with police departments intensely focused on defending themselves, rather than listening.
What I would like to do now is to add my voice to the many people who are talking about policing, and what should be done about it. I would like to help provide a clearer picture of what the problems are, and what can realistically be done about them. Over the next few weeks or months, I will publish a series of articles on this topic. I have spent over a decade working with and for police departments, and I hope I can provide some useful insight.
Policing isn’t broken. It’s doing what we’ve asked. But that also means we can ask it to do something else. If enough people are on board, then real change can happen.
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This post was previously published on Equality Includes You.
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