One of the subjects not really discussed in this book, except tangentially, is the role of the police in our society, whose motto is ‘to serve and protect’ which frankly is something we all need in a violent society like America’s. At the same time, there is need for police reform in various places, which includes better training, and actions based on better information. For example, there shouldn’t be any ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ attitudes, nor should there be any ‘shoot to kill’ attitudes. The police are not judge, jury, and executioners all rolled into one. For justice to be done under any normal set of circumstances, there needs to be a fair legal process. Some improvements have been made to make police more accountable for their behavior, including body cameras, but more needs to be done. And to be completely fair, the police are regularly put in dangerous situations and sometimes have to make snap judgments in order to protect lives, including their own. This has to be recognized. They often put themselves in harm’s way and the result is that sometimes they make mistakes, make fear-based decisions.
It is not possible to totally eliminate that factor, but what can be done is doing a better job of careful scrutiny of those becoming police in regard to a whole host of factors: 1) are they trigger happy?; 2) do they use deadly force only as a last resort; 3) is there evidence they have racist or sexist tendencies, or do they genuinely believe we are all created in God’s image, and so are persons of sacred worth, not subhumans or animals; 4) does the evidence suggest they are persons of good character actually dedicated to public service? Furthermore, they all need ongoing education about the changing culture and multi-culturalism, ongoing education about the drug trade and gangs, ongoing education about the evolving gun culture, vigilantism, domestic terrorism, and the changing face of guns and ammunition and the like.
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