# How does America fix broken policing? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532 "2020-02-06T04:51:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/1 "2020-02-06T04:51:24Z")
Most Americans realize that policing in America is broken with minority communities (unless they don’t care or are unaware, a lot of Americans are) What are your solutions? > **[Building trust between police and minority communities](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trust-police-oped/building-trust-between-police-and-minority-communities-idUSBRE97G00B20130817)** > > A federal judge ruled Monday that the stop-and-frisk policies of the New York City Police Department were unconstitutional. That same day, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department will pull back from prosecuting low-level drug... ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/2 "2020-02-06T04:53:14Z")
What’s yours? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/3 "2020-02-06T06:04:49Z")
Mandatory camera laws would be a good step forward. And there should be some agency that’s outside of police department control or influence that investigates allegations of police misconduct. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/4 "2020-02-06T06:06:26Z")
Why is this in the BBQ Pit? Wouldn’t Great Debates be more appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/5 "2020-02-06T06:16:28Z")
Legalize drugs, demilitarize the police. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/6 "2020-02-06T09:35:48Z")
Get rid of cash bail, have the police release people without a hearing in almost all cases. Don’t allow arrests for lesser crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/7 "2020-02-06T17:05:50Z")
Bail reform in NY isn’t working… Put them in a mental hospital > **[As City Sees Uptick in Crime, NYC Mayor Calls for Bail Reform Adjustment](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/as-city-sees-uptick-in-crime-nyc-mayor-calls-for-bail-reform-adjustment/2278653/)** > > As the city he leads saw a sharp uptick in crime last month, New York City’s mayor again called for judges to have the power to determine ‘dangerousness’ when deciding whether or not to release a defendant on bail > **[Man freed thanks to bail reform, then busted in rape, shows what lawmakers...](https://nypost.com/2020/02/03/man-freed-thanks-to-bail-reform-then-busted-for-rape-shows-what-lawmakers-got-wrong/)** > > Exactly as legislators intended, New York’s new no-bail law led to Arjun Tyler’s release from jail in December — just weeks before he was arrested for allegedly trying to rape a woman in a Brooklyn… Low level criminals should be put in mental wards…if jail is not the alternative…period. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/8 "2020-02-06T17:07:18Z")
What type of drugs other than marijuana should be legalized? And if they suffer due to drugs, should Americans’ care, or is it personal responsibility (one thing I agree with the GOP on) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/9 "2020-02-06T18:27:56Z")
Bail reform in NY is working. It’s far from perfect, but it’s better than the system that preceded it. The public only hears of the failures because fear sells commercials and web ads, especially to NY Post readers. If the Special Interest Groups stop the idiotic all-or-nothing approach, it could be fine-tuned and made better. **Little Nemo** , post 7 is why this would have ended up in the Pit had it not been started here. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-america-fix-broken-policing/847532/10 "2020-02-06T18:33:53Z")
I think that it is important that the police look more like the community. I think a police force that is diverse and brings in people with a variety of backgrounds will help end the cycle of police having an occupying mindset in a lot of the communities they work. I also think that police should be paid more and at the same time, held to a higher professional standard. I also think that we need to acknowledge that we are asking to do a lot of things that are not policing, like being social workers and mental health experts; we need to dedicate resources that take pressure off the police to do jobs that aren’t within the expertise. Finally, since this is the pit: shit, fuck and all that.