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Want to make serious inroads in decreasing the dangerous police confrontations instead of just having everybody yell at each other? Assemble a blue-ribbon panel of 15-20 athletes, entertainers, etc. -- LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Jay-Z, etc. -- who have real clout./1
Have them participate in one of those police courses in handling encounters with people -- do you shoot here, not shoot? Let them see that perspective and then produce a series of PSA announcements of how to best to navigate encounters with the police./2
The people most likely to have police encounter police are a lot more likely to pay attention to those who have some sort of street cred. Messages from them, informed by knowing the law-enforcement side of things, could really resonate./3
But it shouldn't stop there. Let's have public hearings, panels, whatever you want to call them, with these icons involved in discussions about shaping policing policies. Make them genuinely involved in the process so they aren't just propaganda pawns./4
When I'm talking hearings/panels, I'm not talking about these nonsense Senate hearings where windbag politicians are making speeches and grandstanding rather than having productive dialogue. I'm talking about real discussions, in public, so people can have transparency./5
It needs to be a mix of these icons, law enforcement experts, lawmakers, so that they can have productive conversations from all relevant angles. Let it be an open dialogue, a national brainstorming session. Find common ground and craft a bill Congress doesn't dare reject.
If we don't take an approach like this, if we allow it to be handled strictly on partisan political lines, then we will never come up with a framework that will have credibility across the board./7
Defunding/disbanding the police is no answer to anybody but anarchists and the hold-my-breath-until-I-turn-blue crowd. Defunding/disbanding doesn't poll well in the crime-ridden areas -- most want MORE police presence, not less./8
So we need to find a way to reform policing in a way that is productive AND credible. And if we just leave it to politicians, we know we will never have an outcome that will be credible enough for the buy-in we need as a nation. Our politicians have ZERO moral authority./9
So let's put these widely admired public figures -- people who have street cred our political class lacks -- in position to make a difference. Put them in a forum where their opinions are welcome, as opposed to the hollow gesture of wearing shirts with pithy catch phrases./10
Or, we can just keep yelling at each other. /END
