Look, I get that police violence may seem like an insurmountable problem, and it’s hard to know where to start untangling this issue. Yes, many of us are protesting, taking a knee, and posting on social media, and these things are good, but maybe there are immediate concrete changes police departments could make while untangling the deeper structural issues at play. Here are some well-researched, data-driven good ideas for police department reform from www.8cantwait.org:

– Ban chokeholds and strangleholds.
– Teach and require de-escalation techniques.
– Require verbal warnings before shooting.
– Require police exhaust all alternatives before shooting.
– Mandate duty to intervene.
– Establish a clear force continuum.
– Require comprehensive reporting (for example, an officer must always report drawing a firearm).
– Ban shooting at moving vehicles (unless driver poses an immediate deadly threat).

And if these feel too extreme, read the study on the site to see that they’re not. In fact, many police departments are already pursuing these policies quite successfully; it’s just not enough of them are doing it yet. The average police department from the study only has about 3/8 of these policies in place, so we’re not even halfway there yet. And thus, protests. After doing a little reading, I would also suggest these three policy changes:

– End random traffic stops, as these have been shown to be statistically ineffective (source: Malcolm Gladwell’s “Talking to Strangers”), and consider an overhaul of the ticket quota system.
– Require regular bias awareness training for anyone with a badge because racism is still a powerful force in our country. I’ve been through bias training myself for teaching and chaplaincy, and they don’t even give us guns for those jobs.
– Make it an automatic dismissal to turn off a dashboard/body camera or tape over a badge number. If you aren’t willing to be held accountable for your actions, you shouldn’t be a police officer.

So what do protestors want? Well, how about we start with the eleven points above? If we really believe in “restorative justice” as a nation, then we should start by making our police increasingly non-lethal. Are deeper institutional reforms needed to root out racism from our culture? Of course! But the measures above are at least a step in the right direction and could be implemented immediately. I hope this helps.

I posted this to my personal facebook page but thought it might be useful to a wider audience. Make sure to visit 8cantwait.com for more info on what can be done and how you can get involved!