Police matters

"We understand that justice is a universal language, that justice will not only heal our land, it will hold our land accountable and change our land for the better."--Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

"But in these times, part of 21st-century policing is being transparent, and how much more transparent can you be when you have a third party investigating incidents?"--Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey

Well, that's the way it ought to be, yes? The mayor is more the rhetorician, inspiring us, calling for our better angels. The police chief is the cop--looking at the details, dirty as they may sometimes be.

The leadership at City Hall announced several policy changes in Little Rock's police department this week. Including getting the State Police to review all officer-involved shootings in Little Rock, plus all in-custody deaths.Also, a "duty to intervene" policy is likely to be added to prevent a bunch of officers watching as somebody is treated the way George Floyd was in that video.

But all of these actions in Little Rock might have been coming even before the protests this past week. As John Brummett remembered in a column the other day, this mayor was elected while calling for investigations of no-knock warrants.

There are other actions that should be taken in the Little Rock Police Department, and not just the Little Rock Police Department. (You'll note the state has formed its own task force.)

It's almost as hard to fire bad cops as bad teachers. Legislation should be passed soonest to keep unions from slow-walking punishments for wrong-doing in the force(s). And why aren't body cameras a requirement in every police department, big and small?

But there is something else, perhaps bigger, here. And it may not be solved with a piece of legislation at the various state capitals. We the People need to rethink what we think of police.

It can be a compliment being called a jack of all trades, but when you add the second half of the description--"master of none"--a mighty weakness appears. Nobody can be outstanding at everything. Or even really good. The world needs experts, people who are great at one focused skill. So why do cities expect police officers to have every skill in the book?

In 2016, then-Dallas Police Chief David Brown had some frank words about cops and the duties they're expected to perform:

"Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve," he said. For example, he said folks call the police for problems including not just burglary and arson, but mental health, drug addiction, failing schools and free-running dogs in the neighborhood.

Police officers are not equipped to be social workers, drug rehab staffers, mental health experts, math tutors, homeless advocates, auto repairers and dogcatchers. But they are expected to be. Why is that?

Chief Brown raises very good points. Police officers are asked to do entirely too much. And when they fail at one task in spectacular fashion, people record that failure and question why it happened.

We're not talking about the Minnesota situation here. Cops ought to be able to arrest somebody they suspect of a crime without kneeling on a man's neck until he dies--or watching while another cop does so.

But as cities around the country cut programs for the homeless, after-school programs, drug clinics and mental health services, more and more law enforcement officers become first responders for more and more situations. Men and women with the badge are expected to solve problems they were never trained for at the academy. This is a much larger issue than union demands or third-party reviews.

At a time in which folks are discussing--apparently seriously in some places--"defunding the police," the more rational of Americans need to be able to have rational discussions about what police are called to do. A good place to start would be assigned duties. Police officers should have two focuses: preventing crimes and solving crimes.

Cities across the country are going to have to take a good hard look at their budgets and realize they can't defund social services and simultaneously expect cops to pick up every piece of the slack.

Protect and serve can mean different things. But it shouldn't mean everything.

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