Better Rules/Training Is Not Enough - Reform Police Culture

During a war, countries use a propaganda that defines their enemy as them -- as people that are different than themselves. This makes it easier to kill those people (and sadly, many times leads to war crimes being done and defended). 

We can debate whether that propaganda is good or not, but it also exists in our own society. Too often these days, people are quick to label their political opponents as enemies. This has led some to actually perpetrating violence against those seen as others.

We have seen a continuing violence by police. And with the advent of videos (especially on cell phones, which nearly everyone has), much of this violence is being documented. And rightly, this has resulted in calls for reforming the regulations and training in police departments.

There is no doubt that better regulations and training are needed. But they are not enough. Police culture must also be reformed, or the better training and regulations will mean nothing.

For far too long, many police have had an "us vs. them" view of their job. They consider themselves to be in a war against criminality, with the "us" (police) fighting against the "them" (criminals). This is the same kind of thinking that is used in a war, and it allows police to justify bending, or even breaking, the rules and regulations to win that "war".

Unfortunately, it also leads to innocent citizens being branded as the "them", and persecuted or even killed. The most recent example is the beatting death of Tyre Nichols by police. Some will try to say this is an isolated incident. It is not. 

There is far too much police violence in many departments across the country, especially toward minority citizens. And its due as much or more to the "us vs. them" police culture as it is to a lack of proper training and regulations.

Don't get me wrong. I believe there is a need for better training and regulations -- and it should be on a nationwide basis (with laws passed on a federal level). But the best training and regulations will not work until the "us vs. them" culture among police is changed.

The truth is that there is no "them" -- only "us". Even the most heinous criminal is a human, and deserves the constitutional rights afforded to everyone. Sometimes a physical alteration cannot be avoided, but it must always be initiated by the person being stopped by police -- not from the police themselves.

Police are to protect and serve the people, but they cannot do that if they consider a portion of the population as enemies.