Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:11 PM Jun 2020

Steve Schmidt: Every cop must undergo a federally certified civil liberties training course.

Steve Schmidt ✔@SteveSchmidtSES

Thinking of police reform this morning. Here are a couple top line thoughts. 1. Whatever imponderable number of Federal Law Enforcement agencies there are, let’s have fewer. 2. Every cop must undergo a federally certified civil liberties training course.

3. Police attire should be demilitarized. Police officers should not be dressed like the division ready brigade of the 82nd airborne in the conduct of their day to day duties. 4. Prosecution and investigation of Police misconduct should be de-conflicted by having independent

Prosecutors with jurisdiction over the issue. 5. Recruitment needs to be thoroughly reviewed. There needs to be a zero tolerance policy for any violent conduct or extremist associations. A full psychological assessment should be standard. 6. With the exception of swat teams

training should be demilitarized. Police are not occcupying armies. The concept of Peace Officer should be reintroduced. 7. On duty -on uniform cameras are mandatory.

10:46 AM - Jun 3, 2020







Couldn't agree more!
16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Steve Schmidt: Every cop must undergo a federally certified civil liberties training course. (Original Post) Dennis Donovan Jun 2020 OP
This! FM123 Jun 2020 #1
An Ethics in the Workplace course would be nice, probably for the whitehouse also. LiberalArkie Jun 2020 #2
Look to European standards Ferryboat Jun 2020 #3
...and a quiz at the end, and their score is put on their ID? Brainfodder Jun 2020 #4
Some more ideas matt819 Jun 2020 #5
This BComplex Jun 2020 #7
All Good! ProfessorGAC Jun 2020 #9
Totally agree with everything he said. BComplex Jun 2020 #6
I think we might... SergeStorms Jun 2020 #8
Especially Trump's cosplaying mall cops C_U_L8R Jun 2020 #10
Yes - all THIS plus sensitivity training FakeNoose Jun 2020 #11
There's no evidence that training changes cop behavior, and body cams do not reduce violence. WhiskeyGrinder Jun 2020 #12
Excellent info - deserves its own OP. nt crickets Jun 2020 #16
And a thorough background check to identify redstatebluegirl Jun 2020 #13
Any LEO involved in a fatality should be forcibly retired...permanently...nationwide pecosbob Jun 2020 #14
Throw in a thorough mental health eval, as well. Reader Rabbit Jun 2020 #15

FM123

(10,053 posts)
1. This!
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:15 PM
Jun 2020

A full psychological assessment should be standard. If we can weed out the racist out-of-control chauvins in advance, that would help big time.

Ferryboat

(922 posts)
3. Look to European standards
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:31 PM
Jun 2020

You dont become an officer just because you want to.

College education, extensive training and certification.

matt819

(10,749 posts)
5. Some more ideas
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:35 PM
Jun 2020

A national database of terminated cops, same cops prohibited from gaining employment as a cop anywhere else. Like a sex offender database.

A terminated cop being rehired as a cop results in federal criminal charges, and the chief of the department hiring the terminated cop is subject to federal criminal charges.

Any department that has terminated a certain number/percentage of cops for cause - any cause - will be subject to federal oversight for 3 years.





ProfessorGAC

(64,877 posts)
9. All Good!
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:43 PM
Jun 2020

Maybe Schmidt's ideas cover this but, I'd eliminate some veterans depending on their spec, except for SWAT.
I think you have too many hard combat mindsets, because of the training & indoctrination for those military jobs.
Person was a logistics clerk or motor pool, or even artillery. No problem. Their highest skill doesn't translate to street behavior. (Provided we don't militarize further by buying cannons!)
There is too much "war zone" thinking.
Everything is not Fort Apache: The Bronx.

FakeNoose

(32,599 posts)
11. Yes - all THIS plus sensitivity training
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:01 PM
Jun 2020

Start hiring more women and more blacks immediately. Partner each new "minority" cop with a white male wherever possible. It would work wonders for the police force's issues.



WhiskeyGrinder

(22,309 posts)
12. There's no evidence that training changes cop behavior, and body cams do not reduce violence.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:15 PM
Jun 2020

Here's a list of what does and doesn't work to reduce police violence (if that's your goal), from someone who studies such things:





For those who are interested in research-based solutions to stop police violence, here’s what you need to know - based on the facts and data. A thread.
Lesson 1. Everything you’ve probably heard is a lie. Specifically, the most discussed “solutions” to police violence have no evidence of effectiveness. For example, Body cams don’t reduce police violence: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/21/10329.short?rss=1

2. There is no evidence that better police training programs or “implicit bias” training changes police behavior. The trainings vary in quality and rarely result in any accountability/changes in decision-making. Don’t put this at the top of your agenda. Next, what works...

3. More restrictive state and local policies governing police use of force are associated with significantly lower rates of police shootings/killings by police. This is backed by 30+ years of research. We identified specific policies that work here: http://useofforceproject.org

4. Demilitarization. Police depts that get more military weapons from the federal govt kill more people. You can stop that from happening through local and state policy. Montana (Red state) has gone the furthest on this. Your state can and should follow.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053168017712885

5. Police Union Contracts. Every 4-6 years your police dept’s accountability system is re-negotiated. Purging misconduct records, reinstating fired officers, dept funding- it’s in the contract. Cities with worse contracts have higher police violence rates. http://checkthepolice.org

6. Predictive policing on the police. Yes, use the technology against them. Data on use of force, complaints & lawsuits can be used to identify officers who most likely to shoot someone next and prevent it from happening. Use the methodology to save lives.
Can police data predict how ‘bad apple’ officers influence their fellow cops? New study says yes.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-predicting-bad-police-behavior-20190801-xumudeezmjalbbpmqwyvh26tdi-story.html

7. Invest in alternatives to police as crime prevention strategies. Every 10 additional organizations in a city:

- Reduces the murder rate by 9%
- Reduces violent crime rate by 6%
- Reduces property crime rate by 4%

The Research: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122417736289

8. Establish non-police alternatives to 911 calls involving people with mental illness. For example, 1 in 5 of the 911 calls in Eugene, OR are diverted to mental health first responders instead of police to respond. A success being scaled in Portland.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-mental-health-experts-not-police-are-the-first-responders-1543071600

9. Resource the Department of Justice (after the current president is voted out) to initiate more investigations of police departments. Departments that receive federal intervention have 25-30% fewer police shootings than those that do not.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kznagw/jeff-sessions-is-walking-away-from-the-best-way-to-reduce-police-shootings

10. Know change is not only possible, it’s already happened in some places. Oakland police shot 8 people on avg each year 5 yrs ago and, after these interventions were implemented, they had 0 shootings this yr, 1 last yr (the officers were fired) and 0 the yr before. Lives saved.

11. Finally, we’ve catalogued an extensive range of research studies and other information detailing potential solutions to police violence at http://joincampaignzero.org/research

12. And if you don’t have time to read the research right now, we’ve presented most of this research in rapid succession in this video:
In order to establish these findings we had to:
1. Build the most comprehensive database of police violence in the US
2. Conduct analyses of police use of force policies and union contracts in the 100 largest US cities
3. Track every state policing bill passed in the past 5 years
4. Track every research study published on the subject over the past five years and evaluate for quality
5. Meticulously catalogue the findings so they can be broadly accessible

redstatebluegirl

(12,265 posts)
13. And a thorough background check to identify
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:06 PM
Jun 2020

any links to white supremacist organizations. That check would need to be repeated yearly.

Reader Rabbit

(2,624 posts)
15. Throw in a thorough mental health eval, as well.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:11 PM
Jun 2020

I wouldn't doubt many of these guys had serious issues that drive their behavior.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Steve Schmidt: Every cop ...