We need a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices.

[Comrade Grumpy]

We all know that there are some serious problems with police in this country. I don't think these are "bad apple" events, but evidence of institutional problems and the culture of policing.

For people like Michael Brown and folks who think he was wrongfully killed, there has been no effective recourse. While I sympathize with the people who took to the streets, that is unlikely to change anything, either.

I think it's also unlikely that either state legislatures or the Congress are going to step up and pass sweeping police reform legislation.

But the president could empanel a national commission to examine the problem and make recommendations for change. There could be hearings, people could get a chance to be heard, grievances could be aired, problems identified.

President Johnson called for a national commission after the race riots of 1968. President Nixon called for one on drug policy.

Having a national commission on an issue doesn't change things by itself--the recommendations of Johnson's Kerner Commission went largely unaddressed, and Nixon just ignored the commission that recommended decriminalizing weed--but it opens the conversation and gives a public platform for discussion of these issues. And at the least, we get an august body making recommendations for improvements.

I've used the title of this thread in too many of my responses to cases of police misconduct. I think it's time we make a serious push for it. Maybe starting with one of those online White House petitions.

[bluedigger]

1. Or we could try using the Constitution.

Either way could work.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Perhaps the commission could address how we've drifted away from that.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. Shameless self-kick. C'mon, doesn't anybody think this is a good idea? Or a bad one?

Nothing?

[Euphoria]

4. Good idea.

Concrete demands that lead to transparency and oversight. We need to push for specific and far reaching changes.

[csziggy]

5. Local oversight committees would be better than any national organization

Unless it is done in the same model as neighborhood watch groups. A national organization could set the standards and provide assistance while localities can establish their own committees to oversee police actions.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. I'm thinking of a blue ribbon panel that would hold hearings, do research, and issue a report...

...with concrete recommendations.

Effective civilian control over law enforcement is one important issue. I think it's sorely lacking in many places. Whether it's through local oversight committees or civilian review boards (the same thing?) with some teeth, or some other mechanism, this is something to be addressed.

[csziggy]

8. That would be a start

Local civilian oversight would be needed to avoid the insider phenomenon, though. And a relatively high turnover would be best. Experiments such as the Milgram project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) and the Standford Prison Experiment (http://www.prisonexp.org/) prove that once people are fully involved, they tend to get sucked into the authoritarian model. If the term is short and turnover is high for the oversight group, there should be less approval of undesirable methods.

[TheKentuckian]

7. I don't think we need a smoke and mirrors commission made up of cops, business people,

and a token minority and/or a token civil liberties lawyer to gloss over systemic issues and make wimpy, toothless, and probably mostly counter productive recommendations for fake and cynical fixes along with lame propaganda which are usually what such things are about.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Okay. What do you propose to deal with the issues we're having with police?

Speaking of cynicism, I see a lot of it in your reply. Perhaps well earned. But what else have you got?

The make-up of a national commission would, of course, be critical. Nobody wants an "everything is fine" commission, because we know it isn't.

[TheKentuckian]

12. Complete reboot, a mission of keeping peace rather than law enforcement, a responsibility to protect

and serve, the absolute end to vice enforcement, removal from almost all "anti terror" responsibility, the end of the career beat cop replaced by 2 year stints of required community service, banning profiling, banning "Terry stops", a requirement to clearly articulate a rationale to dispatch prior to any interaction and the encounter then limited to that articulated rationale, voluntary dismantlement of "Fraternal" organizations, being subject to the law they enforce.

That is my start. If that doesn't work or is overly resisted then other harsher methods of bringing consequences will be required.

[ucrdem]

9. DOJ has two investigations open

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025873008

K'n'R

[Comrade Grumpy]

11. What I'm talking about would go far beyond the Michael Brown case.

It could be Exhibit #3,456.

The problem extends far beyond Ferguson.