Many ideas pursue the same goal
President Trump signed an executive order this week intended to produce better policing practices. The Republicanled U.S. Senate proposed a bill Wednesday addressing the same issue; the Democraticled House plans a vote soon on its police reform plan.
This flurry of activity follows the death last month of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which produced a groundswell of demands for changes in the way police do their jobs. Lawmakers in Washington are listing.
Trump's order would create a database to track police officers who have excessive use of force complaints in their records. It also would encourage best practices by tying credentialing to federal grants, and would encourage programs in which social workers join police in responding to nonviolent calls involving the homeless or those facing mental health and substance abuse issues.
These are worthwhile, as are different parts of the Democratic and Republican bills. The result will be worth watching.
Meantime, a conservative author is encouraging federal lawmakers to align reform proposals with five broad principles: recruit, train, reveal, restrain and document. Rafael Mangual, a fellow and deputy director for legal policy at the Manhattan Institute, says reform can be accomplished without compromising officers or public safety.
In the area of recruiting, “the need to fill police ranks with high-caliber officers is paramount,” Mangual writes. He notes that the U.S. military allows recruits with four-year degrees to join as commissioned officers, which can lead to a quicker promotional track.
“Police agencies should explore a similar pilot program, which, by offering a quicker and more reliable track to investigative and/ or managerial roles to college and advanced degree-holders, can attract high-caliber recruits,” he says.
Training should have an emphasis on legal knowledge, Mangual says. Many of the decisions police make in the field, he notes, require applying legal doctrines. “Minimizing — through more extensive and continuous, legal training — instances in which police err in making these decisions will benefit police and citizens alike,” he writes.
Broader adoption of body cameras, an idea popular with the public and lawmakers, is at the heart of Mangual's third principle. As of 2016, he says, just under half of U.S. police agencies have acquired these tools. (Oklahoma City police have used them widely since 2018).
In discussing constraint, Mangual proposes express authorization for no-knock raids, in which police enter a dwelling without knocking or announcing themselves. They are often dangerous and sometimes deadly. Mangual suggests requiring commanding officers to submit written declarations that such raids are the most prudent option.
Finally, he says improved documentation — better and more consistent data collection — is needed to help policymakers and analysts answer important questions. “Among those questions: the extent to which violent crimes are committed by offenders out on bail, and how resource deployment decisions affect crime in hot spots.”
They're among the many ideas worth considering in the pursuit of improved police work.