Several incidents of blatant racism have been highlighted by continued protests which now engulf cities not only across America, but globally. I cannot pretend to know what racism feels like, so I’m going to focus on what I do know. Looting and vandalism accompanying the protests have subsided and with their fading has faded any impetus for a discussion on ending them; we can focus on something more important. What’s left? We have a problem in the equal dispensation of justice in this country. Our black community members do not even feel safe around law enforcement.
Unfortunately, we cannot flip a switch and turn off racism. There has been progress on the issue, but it is slow. Changing cultural biases takes generations. Generations of black and brown people should not have to wait on being treated the same way as white people. The good news is that there are things we can do right now to mitigate the effects.
The first step should be to eliminate all language in police union contracts that protects officers who behave irresponsibly or with undue aggression. Many contracts build sunsets into reprimands. Chicago’s includes a clause about expunging records after 5-7 years, even in the case of a complaint about use of force. Rather than wait to negotiate new contracts, municipalities and, even better, Congress, should make it illegal to include such things in the contract in the first place. Further, clear guidelines on prioritizing de-escalation and using any force should be enforced with strict penalties for violations. This should be encoded into law.
Creating laws and ordinances that specify what cannot be included in a police contract have the benefit of taking effect immediately. Renegotiating a contract with a union could take months or even years. Passing a law making illegal provisions protecting misbehaving cops invalidates a bad contract. Specifying the proper use of force and consequences for excessive action removes any uncertainty about what will or will not be allowed and creates an environment where a police officer will have to think about safety rather than simply subduing a suspect. It shouldn’t change anything for the majority of police, but those who would use their position to act violently will no longer be able to hide behind their badge.
There are, of course, many other pressing reforms to be made. For instance, I believe prison should be used as a way to create better citizens. I’ve written about that here. However, I believe transparency and accountability by police would lead to incredibly powerful results if implemented and I believe that highly focused messaging will end with success while broad messaging ends in platitudes without actual progress. Accountability, in particular, appears to be an issue gaining bipartisan traction with Senators including both Cory Booker and Lindsey Graham talking about it. If we do this right, we could use this momentum to take important steps forward.