BACKING THE BLUE

 To be clear, I've had this opinion since at least the mid 90's.  It's only the recent notoriety that prompts me to verbalize it.  This particular post has been in draft form for several weeks as I try to bring disparate thoughts into some form of cohesion.

I'll start with the the de rigueur: "defunding" the police departments.  Despite what alarmists want you to believe, it consists of shifting money and responsibility to some other section of social services.  In my opinion, this is a stupid idea.  Just shift the responsibility and free up the money to enhance police departments.  But this is a Pollyanna approach because of one party's decades long "no new taxes" mantra.  Police departments (and social services in general) are funded by taxes.  Republicans pledge not to raise taxes and Democrats don't have the power or backbone when they do have the power, to raise taxes.  This is so simple: if the cost of everything is going up but income remains the same, something has to be cut.   In the recent shift of money from the police department in Austin,  for example, part of that came from 150 unfilled police department positions and part of it came from delaying police academy classes.  This is stupid.  Increase taxes, fill positions, drastically reduce overtime made necessary because of lack of personnel.  

I'm all for backing the blue, but want something in return.  That something is for them to do their job honorably.  Let's face it, most of us wouldn't do well in that job.  It takes a certain personality to be able to withstand the constant contact with the less desirable members of the public.  Nowadays even a routine traffic stop is no longer routine.  What we need to do is make it easier for them to perform their duties.  Not being a policeman, I have no specific idea what that would be.  But given the spate of police shooting of black folks that make it to the news, I see a majority of them involve altercations with a person mentally challenged, either naturally or drug/alcohol induced.  When the beat cop finds himself in a hostage situation, for example, he calls for SWAT because they are especially trained.  So my first recommendation is for more special training, ideally a special team.  Of course, that takes money and personnel.  And I'm not overlooking that the situation is probably time-sensitive.  But it is a good starting point in coming to a solution.  

From what I'm seeing, either on TV or in person, once they leave the police academy, many cops lose their physical training.  There needs to be more than a half-hearted program to maintain physical prowess.

I firmly believe police unions have their place.  However, coming to the defense of egregious behavior should not be part of it.  I blame it all on football and teamwork.  Team members will go to great lengths to cover up/overlook undesirable activities because disclosure risks ostracization from the team.  All too often, with the advent of videos, the written report bears little resemblance to what really happened.  Police departments have Internal Affairs and from what I can discern, this section and the unions are opposites.  In my opinion, the unions should be at the forefront of overseeing members who improperly perform their duties. They can best have their member's backs by weeding out completely or changing unprofessional behavior.