We must demand better from police departments

Dear Editor:

I invite readers to ask questions about police standards in your communities. I’m particularly drawn to evidence-based policies, like those studied and promoted by Campaign Zero. Its research shows police departments that implement the following can decrease police violence by 72%:

A ban on chokeholds and strangleholds; mandatory de-escalation; warning before shooting; exhausting all alternatives before shooting; having a duty to intervene; a ban on shooting at motor vehicles; having a use-offorce continuum; and requiring comprehensive reporting.

Ask for information about your police department’s progress toward each of these standards. Get updates monthly or quarterly so that progress and maintenance are recognized.

Also, I’m alarmed by the militarization of our police, which suggests they must do battle with Americans instead of protect and serve everyone, not just white people. To that end, ask whether your police receive funding/supplies from the military and what it’s used for.

I recognize the demand we put on our police officers to make life-or-death decisions in the blink of an eye. But the system forgives police far too much. Ask your police for binding civilian review boards. Ask if fired officers stay fired or if they get reinstated thanks to other boards that base reversals on historical precedent rooted in racism.

Until we collectively acknowledge we have a problem, it will never be solved. Silence is violence.

Emily Wengert

New Paltz