Dennis Kucinich Offers Some Solutions To Police Problems

Those of you who have read this blog over the last few days will know that I consider the main cause of this nation's police problems to be a lack of competent and effective leadership in far too many of the nation's law enforcement agencies -- a lack of leadership that is compounded by the ridiculous militarization of the police, and the nation's continuing racial problems.

But I am willing to listen to other opinions, and a couple of days ago former congressman Dennis Kucinich offered some solutions of his own in an article for The Huffington Post. The entire article is well worth reading (and I urge you to do so), but I bring you here just the solutions he offers. He says we need to:

1. Congress must firmly re-establish the firewall between civilian law enforcement and the military by reinstating the intent of the Posse Comitatus law. As member of Congress I warned in 2007 the dangers of a bill which permitted the government to put troops on the ground in the US.

2. The Department of Defense must stop providing war-fighting equipment to local law enforcement.

3. All equipment provided to local law enforcement by the Department of Defense, must be inventoried and stored, not used except under an executive order from the top civilian authority in a state, the Governor, or under orders of the President of the United States.

4. The General Accounting Office and the Inspector General of the Department of Defense must be asked by Congress to determine the extent to which the training and equipping of local police by the DOD has created a culture in local law enforcement which is adverse to democratic values.

5. The Justice Department needs to fund programs which will train or retrain local law enforcement in racial sensitivity, constitutional protections of suspects, including the right to freedom of speech and right to assemble.

6. The Justice Department must also fund, support and mandate that all local law enforcement receiving any federal funds whatsoever create community programs for dialogue between local police and people in the neighborhood. Local police become an occupying army through emotional distancing, fear and lack of contact with the community. That can change by having police and the community meet regularly to discuss mutual concerns.

Those who serve in local law enforcement are given special trust, special dispensation to serve and protect. Their work is essential. Local police would like to be supported. But we must demand strict adherence to the Constitution and protection of the freedoms given to us by the Bill of Rights.

Let's insist on the following principles:

• Well trained, culturally diverse, de-militarized local police forces to protect our neighborhoods.
• The military to defend our nation.
• And a rule of law which applies to a man with a badge and a gun, just as it applies to an unarmed teenager.

The requirements of freedom demand no less.

(The caricature above of Dennis Kucinich is by DonkeyHotey.)