Defund the Police
Herein you will find several proposed steps toward reducing police violence.
One important and oft overlooked step is to move 911 dispatch staff, facilities, and budget from the Police Department to the Director of Emergency Medical Services, usually an ER doctor. Dispatch must have training and resources to send responders other than police when appropriate.
Each locale should analyze 911 calls received in the past for similarities, grouping them into categories. Studies could include follow up to determine how satisfied the involved parties were with the final outcome. They should certainly determine the frequency of each type of call.
When the data had been compiled and studied, the community can begin an inclusive planning process, moving through each category of call, from those most urgently needing improvement, through the most frequent types of calls to the least common categories. For each, the plan should determine how to prevent these emergencies from happening in the first place as well as how to best respond when they do.
It is especially important to engage mental health professionals in planning to deal with mental health crises, including addiction issues. Plans should include first responders as well as long term care. Armed uniformed police are never appropriate as a front line for these medical issues, especially when illegal drug use is involved. Consider the way Portugal cut illegal drug use in half by replacing police with street counselors and incarceration with addiction treatment.
We can also change the culture of violence around policing by changing the emphasis of training. Every police officer uses nonviolent conflict resolution techniques, but they don't get the attention or rewards they deserve for doing so. Trainers should tell the stories about the heroes who managed to solve problems without threat or force.
We desperately need to decriminalize every nonviolent offense and defuse potentially violent situations. Please communicate with your state and national representatives. Meanwhile, there is much we can do within our communities to reduce violence.
One important and oft overlooked step is to move 911 dispatch staff, facilities, and budget from the Police Department to the Director of Emergency Medical Services, usually an ER doctor. Dispatch must have training and resources to send responders other than police when appropriate.
Each locale should analyze 911 calls received in the past for similarities, grouping them into categories. Studies could include follow up to determine how satisfied the involved parties were with the final outcome. They should certainly determine the frequency of each type of call.
When the data had been compiled and studied, the community can begin an inclusive planning process, moving through each category of call, from those most urgently needing improvement, through the most frequent types of calls to the least common categories. For each, the plan should determine how to prevent these emergencies from happening in the first place as well as how to best respond when they do.
It is especially important to engage mental health professionals in planning to deal with mental health crises, including addiction issues. Plans should include first responders as well as long term care. Armed uniformed police are never appropriate as a front line for these medical issues, especially when illegal drug use is involved. Consider the way Portugal cut illegal drug use in half by replacing police with street counselors and incarceration with addiction treatment.
We can also change the culture of violence around policing by changing the emphasis of training. Every police officer uses nonviolent conflict resolution techniques, but they don't get the attention or rewards they deserve for doing so. Trainers should tell the stories about the heroes who managed to solve problems without threat or force.
We desperately need to decriminalize every nonviolent offense and defuse potentially violent situations. Please communicate with your state and national representatives. Meanwhile, there is much we can do within our communities to reduce violence.
posted by Vernon Huffman at 8:37 PM
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