West Marin is place to test re-imagined law enforcement
It’s surprising that closing the Marin County Sheriff’s West Marin substation between 11 p.m. and 11 a.m. didn’t meet with acclaim from progressive West Marinites.
You’d think those on the political left calling to “defund the police” would complain only that Sheriff Bob Doyle was still providing full services during daylight hours.
Progressives make it clear when calling to defund the police that they want to abolish the police.
These folks aren’t thinking about Camden, New Jersey, where the city police department was famously “abolished” only to be replaced by many of the same officers working as lower-paid county deputy sheriffs.
In a recent San Francisco Chronicle column, former Assemblyman Willie Brown wrote,
“The call to ‘defund the police’ as part of the anti-racism, antipolice brutality movement is either one of the dumbest ideas of all time or the hands-down winner of the worst slogan ever.” It’s so intentionally divisive and illogical you’d think “defunding” was crafted by Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin’s cyber squad to further divide America.
Still, defunding and abolishing the police may be worth a gamble. West Marin and San Geronimo Valley are ideal locales to learn if the concept works. Mount a three-year experiment by replacing all sheriff deputies with mobile 24-hours social workers.
The belief that crime will dissolve, racism will end and peace will reign will be tested. What could go wrong?
For those wishing to depart the theater of the absurd; pursuing police reform or “re-imaging” is far more productive. I’ve previously written that law enforcement — including the courts — need to disengage from dealing with the psychiatrically impared.
Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, has a program called the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets program, aka CAHOOTS. These are trained first responders for mental health crises, homelessness, substance abuse and suicide threats.
Psychiatric calls can involve violence so social workers and doctors must be prepared to deal with clients armed with guns or knives often engaging in domestic violence.
For effective policing, a far more diverse cadre of men and women need to be recruited.
The police need to look and think like the communities they serve. Young, white, privileged suburban activists may not realize it, but in Black, brown and Native American communities, law enforcement jobs bring prestige. These well-paying jobs have long been a route for immigrants to move to the middle class.
White activists believe the public, especially the Black community, wants the police gone. The latest Gallup Poll indicates 80% of Black Americans don’t want to “abolish” the police. Twenty percent of them want the police to spend “more time” in their areas, 61% call for “the same amount of time” while 19% advocate “less time.
The results are quite different regarding “confidence about receiving positive treatment by police.” Fully 40% of Black Americans don’t feel confident about being treated fairly.
Another 43% are only “somewhat confident” to be treated respectfully. The out-of-control Vallejo police provide an example of that result alienating the entire city.
Applying “soft power” toward re-imagining policing implies jettisoning military gear, vastly increasing training, promoting diversity-in-hiring and having California certify police officers. Under that reform, when one is fired, the miscreant loses their state license, prohibiting less diligent departments from rehiring them.
Too many police officers have negative stereotypes of those with whom they interact. This is the systematic racism that’s behind today’s justifiable anger. Stereotyping, which is the essence of racism, is factually wrong and morally anathema. As George Floyd’s murder demonstrates, that fault leads to deadly outcomes.
This tendency toward compartmentalization applies across American society, including left-wing activists contending all police are evil. Some even extend that calumny to the dedicated men and women who have — with a few exceptions — built Marin’s wellearned reputation for law enforcement excellence.
Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@ comcast.net.