LORD KNOWS, IT’S TIME FOR REFORMING THE NATION’S POLICE

…A Militant Police vehicle like those used in Ferguson, Missouri.

 

Not only cutting back on the military equipment, but also the current broad protections of the police departments.

 

Have you ever heard of a law called: The Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights?

 

This law was originally passed in Maryland in the 1970’s and it’s a law that grants extraordinarily broad protections to police officers.  Especially those police facing internal investigations for allegations of abuse, brutality and other wrongdoing. This law includes a staggering array of special privileges that amount to a shield against police officers being investigated.  It also offers an opportunity for cover-ups that the police do not grant to any civilian suspects.

 

This law is disliked not only by groups such as the ACLU and the NAACP, but also, often disliked by US police chiefs, who understand it can be and is used to impede police discipline.

 

This law for police officers has been replicated in other states, or it has been copied in labor contracts signed by police departments with unions representing those police officers.

 

In Baltimore, the Democratic Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake blames this law for standing in the way of city officials’ attempts to get to the bottom of Freddie Gray’s death. 

 

In 2013, the FBI cited a similar state law covering corrections officers as blocking management efforts to impose discipline and regain control at the same Baltimore jail a few years earlier.  The reason that the FBI became involved was that more than a dozen guards had helped a gang of jail inmates virtually take charge of the facility while trafficking in drugs, cellphones and sex.

 

A sensible package of reforms could also eliminate or reduce the so-called police cooling-off period.  This currently grants all officers 10 days of silence, which is plenty of time for them to get their story straight with other officers or with the forensic evidence.  This period gives them an excellent buffer before they are required to start cooperating with Internal Affairs (IA) police investigators.

 

Think about it.  There is no reasonable rationale for such a cooling-off privilege.  One or two days, fine.  That would allow them enough time to hire a lawyer.  But 10 days…?  Why 10?

 

In Maryland, a state legislative panel will soon be making recommendations to curtail the excessive protections afforded state and local police.  These are designed to hopefully restore some public trust and confidence. It is critical that the proposals contain genuine reform, not watered-down half-measures designed to pass approval with the police unions.  These unions have long held the power in many Maryland police departments.

 

As an example, the new rules should also allow members of the public at least a year, rather than the current 90 days, to bring police brutality complaints.  They should also require officers to undergo regular psychological evaluations.  This makes total sense for a job that can involve episodes of extreme stress for both the police and members of the public.  The reforms should also establish rules under which officers accused of wrongdoing can be questioned not only by trial boards consisting of fellow officers, but also by civilian review boards.  That is not the case today.

 

As expected, the Police union officials totally oppose any significant changes.  They complain that their members deserve due process protections. But today, they already enjoy protections that go far beyond those accorded the same civilians that may have been apprehended. 

 

What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.

 

Our legal system says that we civilians are considered innocent until we are found guilty.  That rule should apply equally to both the police and the civilians, but not more to the police than the civilians.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2015