Yesterday, we discovered that modern America asks police to do “too much.” Which prompts the next question: What should police stop doing?
Here are two immediate reforms where police can do less, while protecting the public more:
(1) End the War on Drugs. Preventing violence and fraud is the rightful role of police. Not preventing people from engaging in activities that are peaceful, however misguided or self-harming. The criminalization of marijuana means more than 150 million Americans are criminals, warranting police involvement.
Now, Mr. Obama has released some convicts serving long drug-related sentences, but we need a president who will go much farther in changing law enforcement priorities.
(2) Stop Using Civil Asset Forfeiture, whereby police steal people’s stuff without charging and convicting those people of any crime. Not only do federal agencies from Justice to the IRS take our property in violation of our rights, but the Feds encourage state and local police to join them in this bad behavior through their “equitable sharing” program.
While Obama has spoken against seizing assets without a criminal conviction, he hasn’t stopped it. And he could at the federal level, with a stroke of his pen — as I have advocated at Townhall. Ending civil asset forfeiture is an executive order actually within his constitutional power.
Would these two steps end all racism or violence or crime? No, no, no.
They would be, however, two steps forward toward a more principled, lawful and respectful style of policing that would better serve to unite rather than divide citizens and police.
It’s a different two-step than reformers have been witnessing.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Photo Credit: Tomasz Iwaniec
4 replies on “Too Much – Part 2”
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I CAN think of ten more points but this should provide a good platform for immediate drastically needed overall policy change. Well maybe I would add stopping Puppycide in the immediate list .
Seriously as only libertarians have consistently pointed out the’ War on Drugs” provides the momentum for so much of the over reach AND ASSET FORFEITURE the means. I would ask concerned folks to emphasize your points to other concerned people and explain gently to them that we must eliminate the root cause of the ugly problems we are experiencing.
Paul, you make major points here. These two steps alone would nearly solve all the cities’ problems. The question is why have such cures not been made. Rappoport suggests why: https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-inner-cities-violence-poverty-drugs/
1. Let the legislative bodies repeal all drug laws. The ‘policing’ you refer to is a result of the laws themselves. Police are expected to uphold these laws. We can’t blame them for the results.
2. Isn’t civil asset forfeiture also a legislative mechanism? Isn’t there a law that allows it? Again, we should agree to get the legislative bodies to undo these bad laws before blaming the consequences on the police.