Let me start with….i love and fully support our Law Enforcement Officers. BUT, as a person who has worked in law enforcement and with law enforcement for decades I can say that qualified immunity has become a bulletproof vest law enforcement hides behind. Officers are not receiving proper deescalation training and often put the burden of proof on the courts and pocket books of the citizens. Many experienced officers know this and hate the reputation they have with the public.
If anything officers should be held to a higher standard than the citizens. Any use of force should require immediate suspension and mandatory investigation. Officer termination from one location for behavioral issues or inappropriate use of force should disqualify them from all law enforcement positions in the future. They should be registered just like a sex offender. This registration should be a required part of a background check for any law enforcement position and publicly accessible.
Police department financial logs should be public and transparent. The use of police to supplement city income is not justice. Departments should make just enough for salaries, and gear money needed to operate and should otherwise have zero remaining at the end of each year. Officers are focused more on issuing tickets and less on building relationships in the community and preventing crime. If the focus was shifted from crime reaction to crime prevention America’s faith in the legal system would dramatically improve.
Militarization of local police creates fear in local populations and causes a lack of faith in local and state authorities. Leading through intimidation results in retaliation.
Officers are trained in Reed interrogation tactics which encourages intimidation and lying to achieve results. There are many other better proven methods of interviewing. But teaching these skills to more and more officers trickles into their behavior in the community and results in many false confessions.
There is much more to discuss on this topic but this would be a good start.