Create a National License for Police Officers.
The general idea is to improve officer training and to prevent “bad cops” from being passed between jurisdictions.
- National officer ID and database. Needs to be carefully designed to protect privacy of officers.
- Financial incentives for local police departments to hire officers with a national license. Could be tied to an existing funding tool or a new tool may be necessary. For example, the federal government could provide $5,000/year towards the compensation of licensed officers. Departments would remain free to hire unlicensed officers, but there would be a reasonably strong incentive to hire licensed officers. Given that there are approximately 700K police officers in the US, the total cost would be up to ~$3.5B/year, (plus administration costs). However, the true costs to the economy/taxpayers would be less as that amount offsets some portion of otherwise budgeted costs for local governments.
- Specific training requirements and testing for a person to obtain a license. Training would include basic constitutional law, gun safety, mental health, first aid, etc. While that likely overlaps training with the best police departments, it ensures a training floor for the weaker ones.
- Incudes a system to track police misbehavior, which would include public access to the number and type of complaints by department/officer - again, designed to protect the privacy of officers and citizens. Would include reporting requirements for police departments and provide specific rules for suspension or revocation of a license. The financial incentive only applies to licensed officers in good standing.