15 votes

Newark cops didn't fire a single shot in 2020

5 comments

  1. joplin
    Link
    This is an interesting look at how a very corrupt police division in Newark, New Jersey were forced to clean house: This gives me some hope that the police can be reformed and become a useful part...

    This is an interesting look at how a very corrupt police division in Newark, New Jersey were forced to clean house:

    The reforms are the results of a federal consent decree, the billy club used by the Department of Justice after a long investigation concluded in 2014 revealed the rot that had infested the department for decades. It found a rogue department that tolerated widespread brutality and racism, with no accountability, and zero training on how to de-escalate confrontations with civilians.

    “You had a law enforcement agency with no training about how to enforce the law,” says Peter Harvey, the former state attorney general who is overseeing the implementation of the consent decree.

    When Paul Fishman, the former U.S. Attorney, began his investigation in 2011, he found the department’s culture was broken in almost every way. A reflexive resort to violence. Racial bias in stops and enforcement. And an internal affairs bureau so corrupted that it sustained just one complaint of police brutality over five years.

    “The use of force was too high, and the reporting of it was too low,” Fishman says.

    This gives me some hope that the police can be reformed and become a useful part of our communities here in the US.

    10 votes
  2. vord
    Link
    This right here is the most important bit. If everyone is willing to take their time, and especially not threaten lives over nonviolent offenses, a lot of policing problems go away. IMO the...

    “It’s not about resolving the situation as quickly as you can,” O’Hara says. “It’s about protecting the sanctity of every life.”

    This right here is the most important bit. If everyone is willing to take their time, and especially not threaten lives over nonviolent offenses, a lot of policing problems go away.

    IMO the majority of policing should be on a rotating jury-duty like system. Unarmed regular people just helping resolve the minor stuff, escalating as needed. I think part of the problem is we treat policing like a career and not a civic duty.

    6 votes
  3. [4]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [3]
      joplin
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Yes, and that's very sad, but when the LAPD (where I live) had only 18 days without a police-involved shooting, 1 out of 367 days is still a huge win.

      Yes, and that's very sad, but when the LAPD (where I live) had only 18 days without a police-involved shooting, 1 out of 366 367 days is still a huge win.

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        teaearlgraycold
        Link Parent
        Don’t forget that 2020 was a leap year!

        Don’t forget that 2020 was a leap year!

        3 votes
        1. joplin
          Link Parent
          Haha! Excellent point! Post corrected!

          Haha! Excellent point! Post corrected!

          1 vote