Thursday, 17 December 2009

Police accountability

It is obvious that excessive violence by police has become an issue in many Western countries. Perceived rise in crime rates and assault of police incidents have put many police officers on edge. 

There are very simple solutions to any issues of police brutality.

Every police you come in contact with must be recorded in serial number and full name. 
Every police encounter should be caught on dated and timed video and made public as soon as possible and without delay. Failure to capture full footage will result in severe penalty and questioning of all involved. 
Slow down the pace of all conversations. Everyone should be calm and using their brains. Police officers should not be itching to pull out weapons. 
All attempts of weapon use must be documented, determined to be valid and evaluated afterwards. 
Unusual weapons that are derived from methods of torture and which have no effective use in self-defense cannot be used by police officers to protect themselves. 
Weapons cannot be used to arrest. (meaning, police shall not knock people out, so that the person is not aware of arrest.)
Police complaints must have the option of complete anonymity.

Remember the police officers are supposed public servants who are appointed to protect and serve citizens. However, this is in conflict with the current mission to enforce the laws and orders of the government, which is most apparent when the interests of the government differs from the interests of the public they were meant to serve.
Police officers not directly involved in any incident cannot interfere, so that police cannot cover for each other. This prevents the police from becoming a gang, for better or for worse. The police cannot be a secret organization where procedures are kept hidden from public scrutiny.

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