We Already Know How to Reduce Police Racism and Violence [Yes! Magazine]

This is long overdue. I believe a number of complexities need to be addressed in 'this issue': (1) Police [and Sheriff's] recruitment by political party affiliation in many jurisdictions; (2) the Role of 'criminalizing' voter eligibility in substantial areas of our nation, and its relationship to "Peonage"; (3) The differences in the rationale for use of deadly force in different regions of our nation; (4) Responsible [and mature] Citizen behavior when those 'private Citizens' with Concealed Carry permits, who are in a motor vehicle, are stopped by police; ... , etc.

I once worked for a "Unmarked Armored Car company"-our van had no outside markings, and was 'armored from the inside of the vehicle' [gun ports were NOT visible from the outside of the vehicle]....and we were stopped by a new police officer in a town we didn't regularly pass through....because the officer thought we had a Tinted Windshield [not permitted in New Hampshire; the bullet-proof windshield sat 10" back from the outside windshield, creating the appearance of tinting-in bright sunlight, as the van had no other windows], and we wore "suits & ties" [not uniforms] during daylight hours, and we carried concealed handguns. We couldn't 'roll down' the [bullet-proof] windows in the side doors at the front of the van. The driver merely displayed our concealed carry permits in the drivers side window when the officer approached, and we kept our hands visible to the officer. When we opened the [driver's] door, so we could converse, the officer was able to discern from looking out our windshield-that it was not "tinted", and the matter was resolved without further incident. One of the company co-owners, who was also an Auxiliary State Trooper, followed up with a phone call to the officer. I didn't have to contend with the issue of Racism in this interaction, but I have had to, on a number of occasions, in different circumstances.

The cost of insuring municipal police departments for officers 'misconduct' rose 400% in one year, during the late 1970's-according to the Wall Street Journal. I raised that issue during a city council hearing on the matter of having a Police-Community Relations unit to address some of the issues in the city I resided in, at that time.

The psychological tests for an individual police officer's "Propensity Toward Violence", which are used for misconduct insurance purposes, may not appropriately address the role of First-Responder traumatic stress or vicarious trauma. The efficacy of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing versus [Trauma-Informed] Intentional [Police] Peer Support-such as the Boston and Cambridge Massachusetts police departments are using, may provide us further relevant considerations.