# Are there any practical improvements that can be made to American policing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-practical-improvements-that-can-be-made-to-american-policing/705698>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 26, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-practical-improvements-that-can-be-made-to-american-policing/705698 "2014-11-26T18:01:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

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**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-practical-improvements-that-can-be-made-to-american-policing/705698/9 "2014-11-26T19:59:15Z")

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I had a few ideas in [the other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741793):

> [@"our criminal justice system is largely fair and just"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-criminal-justice-system-is-largely-fair-and-just/705577/24):
>
> Create incentives to behave ethically.
> 
> Like putting cops who [kill unarmed children](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/24/cleveland-police-kill-12-year-old-boy-wielding-bb-gun-that-looked-like-a-semi-automatic-pistol/) on trial, for one.
> 
> Sentence [prosecutors who tamper with evidence](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/ex-texas-prosecutor-first-history-be-jailed-withholding-evidence-f8C11566289) behind bars for more than 10 days, for another.
> 
> We could withdraw funding from the FBI when it [wrongfully convicts](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-agent-in-misconduct-case-may-have-tampered-with-drugs-guns-documents-say/2014/11/05/b77fd50e-6440-11e4-bb14-4cfea1e742d5_story.html?hpid=z3) people.
> 
> Every time a [prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wrongful_convictions_in_the_United_States) is [exonerated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exonerated_death_row_inmates), the prosecutor and law enforcement personnel who put them behind bars should be investigated.
> 
> [Confiscate property](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/10/363102433/police-can-seize-and-sell-assets-even-when-the-owner-broke-no-law) only when the owner has been convicted of a crime.
> 
> We could end prohibition, yet again. Eliminate [private prisons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex). Stop tying police funding to tickets, fines and confiscations. Stop tying police and prosecutorial career advancement to successful convictions and instead maybe tie it to _fewer crimes_?
> 
> Police and prosecutorial misconduct should be among the most thoroughly investigated and strictly punished crimes on the books. We should instill a culture of law enforcement as humble public servants who are held to higher standards, not thugs who are above the law.

Also this:

> [@"our criminal justice system is largely fair and just"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-criminal-justice-system-is-largely-fair-and-just/705577/36):
>
> EVERY TIME a cop shoots somebody, there should be a trial. Period. It should be a matter of public record: his reasoning, his options, the evidence for and against the necessity of firing his weapon.
> 
> Do you think if _you_ shot a 12 year old on the playground you’d get to go home that day, no questions asked? Cops should be held to a _higher_ standard than the general public.

This is focused on the justice system as a whole, though.

Body cameras are a great place to start. Stop pitting the cop’s word against the accused’s, and start expecting video evidence behind every frivolous “resisting arrest” charge.

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