Running head: POLICE REFORMS POLICY 1

Police Reforms Policy

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Academic Institution

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Professor

November 15, 2020

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Police Reforms Policy

For a long time, American state police have upheld the notion that active officers in

patrol cannot back down. The idea was peddled and facilitated during training to avoid

unnecessary second-guessing by enforcing officers in action. Moreover, officers' same concept

has been widely propagated to support the argument of defending themselves in case of a

looming threat. However, the police department mandated to observe, direct, and de-escalate the

mistakes by acknowledging and correcting the issues that have failed towards its duties, leading

to an increase in civilian deaths. Over the past three years, more than 1000 people in America

have died in the police's hands. The number continues to rise even with strict policy enforcement

and intense scrutiny of the police force. The report will describe and analyze the current and

alternative policies using Munger criteria alternative matrix. 

The use of internal accountability is one of the long-running policies within the American

state police set up for accountability. With civil responsibility as the current policies are upheld

within the forces, supervisors are mandated to act by enforcing the regulation and policies

towards lawbreakers. Other officers are required to report unlawful acts against their colleagues

towards civilians. As argued by Jonathan Blank, police officers ought to be genuinely

accountable to their actions; otherwise, they should not expect legitimacy towards public

perception (Police Executive Research Forum 2016). Like any other open office, police officers

need citizen legitimacy and the will to function correctly. The current policy entails the training

of a police officer to intervention practices and detects warning signs of an aggressive

engagement or use of unnecessary force towards the civilians. In preparation, the police are

taught how to de-escalate such issues with minimal casualties (Punch 2009). 
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However, the internal accountability policy has not offered the required results. Unfortunately,

the plan has perpetuated the authorization and use of deadly force by law enforcers because it

lacks standardization. The law officers are militarized and are praised as warriors rather than

guardians of the community. Also, the agencies mandated to hold officers that have committed

offenses are unruly and incapable of delivering justice, even despite having the public confidence

restored in them. 

Alternative policies include wearing Body Cameras and for advocating external

oversight. Body cameras are a contemporary concept that is considered a standardized means to

increase police trust, transparency, and accountability towards the institution and the community.

The policy is deemed new, but experts have hailed the progress towards gathering data and

prosecution process. Body camera offers an effective way of holding police officers accountable

and clearing them from accusations. The body cameras not only document the proceedings of the

happenings, such as the use of force but also offer an additional form of accountability by

providing concrete evidence. The use of body cameras has been successful during the first year

of piloting. For example, a Washington Post in 2015, documented that 71 shootings were

captured using the body cameras. Further, a 38% increase in fatal shooting involving police

officers was obtained within the first six months of 2016 (Braga et al. 2017). Also, the body

camera is an effective means of improving and restoring transparency, trust, and public

transparency. For example, in 2018, in North Carolina, a body-worn camera revealed how a

white officer choked and beat a black American for jaywalking. After thorough scrutiny, the

white officers were terminated, and the charges for black Americans dropped. However, other

mixed results had also been reported

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Another alternative policy that can prevent authorized use of deadly force is demilitarizing the

local police departments. Demilitarization helps de-escalation on the use of coercion and the

incorporation of inappropriate tactics while handling the suspects. The de-escalation process

involves banning the use of chokeholds, increase the people oversight, unbiased training, and

offer early intervention (Herzog 2001). Also, demilitarization should entail removing equipment

designed for war and embracing the peacekeeping technique that saves lives. They should also

drop the military training tactics that are often twisted to suit the narrative of warrior training

rather than guardian keepers. 

The Munger America policy reforms are dwells on four selection criteria. They include the;

 Effectiveness; reduce the number of civilians death

 Equity; protect all the races, gender, and age

 Political Feasibility; accepted by the majority of Americans

  Status Quo/ Body Worn Demilitarization

internal Camera

accountability
Effectiveness 1(poor) 2 (moderate) 1 (best)
Equity 0(poor) 3 (moderate) 4(best)
Political Feasibility 20% 60% 40%
The concept of alternatives entails;

 Provision of body-worn cameras to all active officers

 Demilitarization of the police force

On the three alternatives, the ordinal value has been allocated to have specific numerical values.

The values range from 0 to 20 and bear analytical meaning. The variation between 1 and 2

equates to an increase or level of concept change by 10%. Using the Munger equation, it is easy
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to compare the good and the wrong alternative. In this case, a is the cluster weight of the other

options that will guide the whole decision-making process that is if a is less than 0 means it is

less effective has low equity and is likely more not be politically acceptable. The cluster weight

is 0.3 for the three criteria.

Alternative Rating (Equal weights)

 Internal accountability Rating = 0.3*1 +0.3*0 + 0.3*20= 6.3   

 Body worn camera Rating= 0.3* 2 +0.3*3 +0.3*60%= 19.5

 Demilitarization Rating= 0.3*1+0.3*4+0.3*40%= 13.5

Out of the three criteria, the body-worn camera appears to be a practical concept to be

implemented. The ratings are positive because the cost of implementation is not high. Also, most

top scores can be swiftly and efficiently implemented during the early stages of the program.

Internal accountability has the lowest rating of 6.3. The evaluation confirms Morin et al. (2017)

assessment that 72% of the officer that perpetuates wrongdoings are not held accountable by the

internal accountability. 

           Some of the difficulty in the implementation of the alternative includes legislation and

political goodwill. The public will support the other options if it embraces the holistic approach.

Both demilitarization and the body-worn camera should be endorsed by the Justice Department

to be advocated for community policing. It should be a mandatory factor for police to have a

fully functioning body camera on while on duty. Additionally, the demilitarization of police

within a structured organization framework with appropriate management and personnel can

ease the tension around the black lives matter. Also, problem-solving practices and community

partnerships with law enforcement is a critical mandate in ensuring body-worn cameras are

developing appropriate and better solution towards public trust. 

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References

Braga, A. A., Coldren, J. R., Sousa, W. H., Rodriguez, D., & Alper, O. (2017). 

The benefits of body-worn cameras: New findings from a randomized controlled trial at

the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Arlington, VA: CNA Analysis &

Solutions.

Herzog, S. (2001). Militarization and demilitarization processes in the Israeli and

American police forces: Organizational and social aspects. Policing and Society: An

International Journal, 11(2), 181-208.

Morin, R., Parker, K., Stepler, R., & Mercer, A. (2017). Behind the badge.

Pew Research Center. Retrieved July, 3, 2017.

Police Executive Research Forum. (2016). Guiding principles on use of force. Washington,

DC: Police Executive Research Forum.

Punch, M. (2009). Police corruption: Deviance, accountability and reform in

policing. Routledge.