Good morning!
DEFUNDING, REDUX
A friend sent me an interesting book last month, which I just completed. It is The War on Cops, by Heather MacDonald. My friend no doubt wanted to remind me that not all cops are bad, that their service is noble, and that the stories of bad cops (including allegedly bad ones) stick out as relatively infrequent exceptions to the rule. On these points, we agree.
But I’m not sure the book helped refine my thinking. In reading the book, I don’t think the case was made that the fear Black men feel of mistreatment by the police is unfounded. I also don’t believe that the number of police killings of minorities—though relatively few in number and as a percentage—are not indicative of a larger problem, namely, the regular harassment, mistreatment, incarceration, and feeling of vulnerability felt by Black Americans.
On the other hand (now THAT’S a phrase one doesn’t hear enough of), there is a real need for police, protection, and creating safer communities. Since the “defund the police” nonsense, violent crimes have risen in nearly every major city. The “flash mob” robberies of high-end stores in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other major cities continue to be a regular occurrence (owing, at least in part, to the failure to prosecute these acts as felonies and the absence of consequence if caught). Meanwhile, repeated studies suggest that the most vulnerable and underserved communities want more policing and not less.
We need the police. We need safety. But we also need rules and training. It seems to me that the need for police and their training, bad police behaviors, and the problems with our prison system (and absence of meaningful systems for mental health or rehabilitation) are related issues, but can’t be solved with the same prescriptions. They need to be viewed and solved independently. For example, the expansion of incarceration in America to levels not seen in other developed countries is not reason to fail to police our cities. The multi-pronged road to success would include:
Rethinking what’s criminal. Revamping what is and isn’t considered criminal behavior worthy of bringing to bear the State’s resources. Decriminalize a lot of drug crimes and lower the severity of many felonies to misdemeanors.
Reducing mandatory sentences. Time to give discretion back to judges and juries.
Better training and continuing education of police. Longer, better and more sensitive. You can be a cop in LA in 14 weeks. In Germany it takes two years of training.
Police connected to neighborhoods. They should live among those they serve, if not permanently, then certainly during some portion of their training period. Let them shop locally, get a haircut in the local barbershop or salon, and interact with the citizenry as people, rather than potential perps.
DAs as officers of the court. It sounds corny, but the job of everyone in the system is to seek justice. That means sometimes exercising a prosecutor’s discretion to drop a case or plea out easier. And when exculpatory evidence is found, share it. There should be sanctions against prosecutors for withholding evidence or exculpatory information.
No families or prosecutors at parole hearings. It’s about rehabilitation and time to move on—not about the original crime. Once time is served with good behavior, let’s let them reenter society and reconnect with their families.
That’s a start…
And maybe wave at your local police officer, give to their benefit dinner or be kind when pulled over.
COMMON VALUES
In a response to my piece on the prevalence of guns and the chance for more politically motivated violence, Mark DiMaria comments:
“Recent events have disproved a core assumption: That whatever their political or economic stripe, nearly all Americans believed in certain central values -- individual responsibilities of citizenship, the right to vote, majority rule, respect for others, equal and fair treatment under the law, an "objective" truth based upon empirical evidence, and a basic connection as fellow members in a civil society (even if not as participants in a great historical experiment). The bleak reality is that there are many among us whose core beliefs are the pursuit of self-gratification and the power over others to achieve it. above all else. There is a much greater spread along the continuum of empathy v. selfishness than I think you and I had assumed.
We can only stubbornly push back against these trends in the way that we live, act, and speak as individuals, and hope that our values are as contagious to others as they were to us when we picked them up, long ago.”
LEAF BLOWERS ARE EVIL
I have always detested the ubiquity of leafblowers. Most of them are two-stroke gas powered devices that belch out tons of exhaust. And even those that are electric still are the worst noise polluters in most neighborhoods. Plus, I’m not even sure how effective they are. Most of the time, it seems like people just blow leaves, dust, and trash from sidewalks in front of stores into the street or down the sidewalk.
During COVID, I have observed that most gardeners use them and, because there is no coordination of gardener visits in the neighborhood, they can be heard every day of the week. David Rochkind forwarded a great Wall Street Journal article that highlights all the problems with these devices: https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-why-leaf-blowers-are-evil-incarnate-11633613005?st=osdtw6m4farmhk1&reflink=article_email_share
Happily, help is on the way! California is close to passing a ban on these nefarious devices. And even though it only goes into effect in 2024, it will be a welcome relief to our air and our ears!: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-09/california-moves-toward-ban-on-gas-lawnmowers-and-leaf-blowers
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
A correction: The LAPD academy runs for six months (not 14 weeks), after which an officer is sworn in. While technically a cop, each one is paired with a T.O. (Training Officer) for an additional 18 month field training. A significant number of trainees are dismissed during this probation period. So…2 years…