Fixing the Police?

One of the questions being discussed is whether police departments can be reformed or if they need to be dismantled and rebuilt.  Most consider this idea pretty radical and it is unlikely to happen (dismantlement) but is it even worth considering.

When you view the police a lot has to do with who you are and your station in life.  Most white people see police as protectors who keep us safe.  However many Americans have a different viewpoint.

Currently its the left and Black Lives Matter movements that are in focus, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that many on the right consider the police oppressors who enforce Government tyranny.  Many of them seem to have a love hate relationship with the police depending a lot on the nature of the police they deal with.  Still while they may very well be in favor of anarchy they aren't actually demanding dismantlement at this time.

So the issue is related to the current situation mostly.  Many black Americans see the police as an occupying force who place their lives and their children's lives at risk.  Of course this is hardly a universal opinion there and I think that many older black Americans realize that they need police to maintain some level of law and order.  

Still incident after incident has led many to think that the police are more dangerous than helpful.  Clearly the statistics indicate otherwise but the incidents where young black males are apprehended for effectively being black are too numerous to abide.  Weeding out the ones that behave that way has been apparently too challenging  So do we need to rip it down and rebuild it.

How do we solve this problem.  Our black citizens, even if they break the law, should expect the police to treat them as citizens.  I've had a few interactions with the police over the years and never felt that my life was being threatened.  However black citizens have very different experiences. 

I and most of the people I know thought these were isolated instances and I would still like to think they are.  However, it seems that they are more pervasive than believed.  

It needs to be fixed but tearing down police departments and rebuilding them is no guarantee things would be better.  We need the police to self manage this.  The blue wall is a long tradition but that tradition needs to control those who abuse their power.  

Large police departments have years and years of tradition and changing it would require a lot of effort.  It is needed if the police are going to earn the trust of the black communities.