Police Reform Notes (U.S.)

[Tiassa]

This just happened:

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed one of the nation's most ambitious packages of police accountability legislation, prompted by last year's outcry for racial justice following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people at the hands of police.

The dozen bills Inslee signed include outright bans on police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants such as the one that helped lead to Taylor's killing in Louisville, Kentucky.

They require officers to intervene if their colleagues engage in excessive force — a demand inspired by the officers who stood by while Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee to Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes.

The bills also create an independent office to review the use of deadly force by police, make it easier to decertify police for bad acts, and require officers to use "reasonable care," including exhausting de-escalation tactics, in carrying out their duties. The use of tear gas and car chases are restricted and it's easier to sue officers when they inflict injury.

"As of noon today, we will have the best, most comprehensive, most transparent, most effective police accountability laws in the United States," Inslee, a Democrat, said before signing the bills.

(Johnson↱)​

A'ight, then. I hope it works.

To the other, I'm dubious about a new independent office, and we'll have to see how decertification and reasonable care standards are implemented, but qualified immunity remains in place, so this legislation, signed into law, still requires human sacrifice unto law enforcement idolatry.

Nonetheless, the Evergreen State makes its wager; while it seems a tough gamble for an inside straight, the legislature didn't check the bet, and the governor didn't fold.

This will play how it plays; it's a hell of a stake.
____________________

Notes:

Johnson, Gene. "Washington governor signs sweeping police reform measures". Associated Press. 18 May 2021. APNews.com. 18 May 2021. https://bit.ly/3orguSN

 

[Seattle]

It sounds like a good move for the most part. I'm not sure about the no-knock warrant. There are times when those are needed and they do require a judge to sign off on them so I'm not sure about just eliminating them regardless of the details of the case but those are probably mainly used in federal cases anyway so overall it's a good move.

An even better move (or an additional move) would be to just eliminate traffic stops due to speeding. Cops "fear for their life" and sometimes shoot when it's not required so just don't stop people for speeding.

Let cameras catch them and send them the bill in the mail. If it's someone fleeing from a bank robbery and putting everyone's life at stake then that's a different matter but routine speeding traffic stops...eliminate that as well.

I'm not for Inslee's state capital gains tax on "the wealthy". I think there is too much politics in some of these moves and I'm sure he will be running for the Presidency at some point.

 

[Tiassa]

Justin Amash↱, earlier today:

Police officers are successfully asserting self-defense under circumstances that would never qualify as self-defense if asserted by any other person. They are held to a lower standard when, given their responsibilities and training, they should be held to a higher standard.​

This has long been a puzzle, something progressives and liberals have learned to be afraid of saying explicitly. Maybe with Amash's iteration, the underlying question of what the professional standard both deserves and owes can be in play.
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Notes:

@justinamash. "Police officers are successfully asserting self-defense under circumstances that would never qualify as self-defense if asserted by any other person. They are held to a lower standard when, given their responsibilities and training, they should be held to a higher standard." Twitter. 19 May 2021. Twitter.com. 19 May 2021. https://bit.ly/3u235BI

 

[Tiassa]

I'm not sure about the no-knock warrant. There are times when those are needed and they do require a judge to sign off on them so I'm not sure about just eliminating them regardless of the details of the case but those are probably mainly used in federal cases anyway so overall it's a good move.

They can have those warrants back in exchange for qualified immunity and increased burden and scrutiny in obtaining a no-knock warrant.

An even better move (or an additional move) would be to just eliminate traffic stops due to speeding. Cops "fear for their life" and sometimes shoot when it's not required so just don't stop people for speeding.

Let cameras catch them and send them the bill in the mail. If it's someone fleeing from a bank robbery and putting everyone's life at stake then that's a different matter but routine speeding traffic stops...eliminate that as well.

It's actually been recent months, or maybe the last couple years, that I've started hearing more old-school glasspackish coupes buzzing around town. For the most part of last decade, though, it's been motorcycles on the highway running through town, and the one out at the east edge of town. It doesn't seem the police bother chasing them, and it's one thing to scrape a body off the road, now and then.

I actually like the idea of leaving it to the cameras, but even I would eventually get wary of that many damn cameras. Or maybe not; now that marijuana is legal, it's unlikely to matter if a camera places me near somewhere that I might have bought some dope. How's that for a balance between vigilance and not caring because I think I'm in the clear? I feel obliged to worry, if the failure of the police "state" leads to a true "surveillance state". Besides, I carry a smartphone.

More practically, though, it's true the idea of the motorcyclist flying through the air and waking someone up by crashing through their house wall is really grim comedy, at best. And, obviously, the police would be even less likely to chase a coupe that could crash through a house, but there is still going to be some sort of threshold that results in a chase, and that can still lead to a hundred thirty-seven bullets fired at unarmed people, including jumping up on the hood of the now-stopped car to unload through the windshield.

But I do wonder at the reckless driving thresholds to get into a chase that is essentially about speeding. It will be an interesting discussion, but remember, the drifters and racers don't even need to get out of hand before societal influences will start pushing on cops to go after speeders.

In any case, it will be a while before they get the speeding stops question reasonably answered.

I'm not for Inslee's state capital gains tax on "the wealthy". I think there is too much politics in some of these moves and I'm sure he will be running for the Presidency at some point.

Per the Seattle Times↱, "The tax would apply to about 7,000 Washingtonians a year and would raise about $445 million starting in fiscal year 2023". Moreover, the money goes to an education fund; that does connect through an abstract question of crime prevention, but it really does seem a separate question.

I would not be surprised if Inslee runs for president again, but I'm expecting more of a potential cabinet track, or maybe the U.S. Senate, someday, if one of ours retires or is tapped for appointment. Presuming one term for Biden and two for Harris, I'm not certain Democrats will be running a white guy to succeed her; almost certainly not if it's one for Biden and some Republican instead of Harris.
____________________

Notes:

Brunner, Jim. "Inslee signs off on capital gains tax for wealthy and tax rebate for lower-income workers in Washington". The Seattle Times. 4 May 2021. SeattleTimes.com. 19 May 2021. https://bit.ly/3yrlyuG

 

[candy]

I like the part requiring other officers to intervene when excessive force is being employed.
NYPD protocols banned choke holds yet a gang of officers watched as Greene was choked to death; they did have the presence of mind to attempt to block people from videoing the death.
I hope this stopes that from happening in the future.

 

[Seattle]

They can have those warrants back in exchange for qualified immunity and increased burden and scrutiny in obtaining a no-knock warrant.



It's actually been recent months, or maybe the last couple years, that I've started hearing more old-school glasspackish coupes buzzing around town. For the most part of last decade, though, it's been motorcycles on the highway running through town, and the one out at the east edge of town. It doesn't seem the police bother chasing them, and it's one thing to scrape a body off the road, now and then.

I actually like the idea of leaving it to the cameras, but even I would eventually get wary of that many damn cameras. Or maybe not; now that marijuana is legal, it's unlikely to matter if a camera places me near somewhere that I might have bought some dope. How's that for a balance between vigilance and not caring because I think I'm in the clear? I feel obliged to worry, if the failure of the police "state" leads to a true "surveillance state". Besides, I carry a smartphone.

More practically, though, it's true the idea of the motorcyclist flying through the air and waking someone up by crashing through their house wall is really grim comedy, at best. And, obviously, the police would be even less likely to chase a coupe that could crash through a house, but there is still going to be some sort of threshold that results in a chase, and that can still lead to a hundred thirty-seven bullets fired at unarmed people, including jumping up on the hood of the now-stopped car to unload through the windshield.

But I do wonder at the reckless driving thresholds to get into a chase that is essentially about speeding. It will be an intersting discussion, but remember, the drifters and racers don't even need to get out of hand before societal influences will start pushing on cops to go after speeders.

In any case, it will be a while before they get the speeding stops question reasonably answered.



Per the Seattle Times↱, "The tax would apply to about 7,000 Washingtonians a year and would raise about $445 million starting in fiscal year 2023". Moreover, the money goes to an education fund; that does connect through an abstract question of crime prevention, but it really does seem a separate question.

I would not be surprised if Inslee runs for president again, but I'm expecting more of a potential cabinet track, or maybe the U.S. Senate, someday, if one of ours retires or is tapped for appointment. Presuming one term for Biden and two for Harris, I'm not certain Democrats will be running a white guy to succeed her; almost certainly not if it's one for Biden and some Republican instead of Harris.
____________________

Notes:

Brunner, Jim. "Inslee signs off on capital gains tax for wealthy and tax rebate for lower-income workers in Washington". The Seattle Times. 4 May 2021. SeattleTimes.com. 19 May 2021. https://bit.ly/3yrlyuG

I'd be for that trade off as well (cops losing special immunity).

I see no reason, in a state with no income tax, to penalize 7,000 people (it never stays that small) for no reason. If you need money for some program then it should be important enough to tax everyone else and we know that isn't going to happen.

Even though I brought up the camera idea, I'd be careful with the implementation. A few years ago they put up cameras everywhere and started sending out tickets automatically. I got one for $150.

It turned out that the city did a deal with a private company. The company paid for the cameras and the city got a cut of the ticket money (as did the private company). They wouldn't install their cameras however on those stop lights with a longer yellow light so the city changed the timing.

The result was that drivers had little warning, especially when traffic was slow, so a lot more people were "caught" going through a red light since the traffic light went so quickly from green to red.

I think there was enough uproar that either the timing was changed back or the contract ran out and wasn't renewed.

That's the kind of abuse I would be worried about.

 

[Q-reeus]

Courting the eir of automatic Sciforums PC support for The Tribe, I will repost this from #419 p21 @
http://www.sciforums.com/threads/ge...endant-not-being-guilty-of-the-charges.164217:
https://israelpalestinenews.org/min...-police-who-often-use-knee-on-neck-restraint/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israelis-training-us-police-on-large-scale-amnesty/ar-BB14S1z9

While it's good news to here of basic police practice reform as policy enactments, be very sure a major if not entire shaper of that police brutality will escape any scrutiny, and culpability, entirely. Both in US politics & MSM, and apart from myself, here at super pro Israel Sciforums.
The elephant in the room MUST be ignored - OR ELSE!