Monday, June 8, 2015

SOME THOUGHTS ON POLICE TRAINING/TACTICS

MY THOUGHTS ON POLICE TRAINING/TACTICS – INVOLVING NON-CRIMINAL YOUTH CONFLICT When a police officer brutally restrains a young person in the same manner as he would a terrorist or adult criminal it’s an insult to my sense of justice and angers me. By posting these thoughts I’m urging Parents, Police Officials, Police Officers, Police Trainers and others in youth development to change the way officers are trained and ordered to carry out their duties. Our cities are not war zones and our youth are not enemy soldiers. I noted in an earlier post that police training continues to adopt military tactics when stopping and arresting civilians. Police dress and weaponry reflect that trend. I don’t think military tactics ought to be used in non-criminal civilian conflict: particularly non-criminal youth conflict. Where an enemy soldier or adult-criminal understands the rules of conflict and yielding to an authorized force, a non-criminal youth, and many adults, is totally unable to understand or comply with the rules of conflict – particularly in a spontaneous situation. The command to shut-up and get face down on the ground requires an individual to instantly abandon any sense of autonomy - the natural instinct of self- preservation. Soldiers and criminals often find it extremely difficult to assume such a vulnerable position. When I see non-criminal youth physically handled like an enemy soldier or adult-criminal something inside me screams NO!!! POLICE TRAINING AND TACTICS must be changed when stopping youth conflict – we must make the change before the gulf of trust between police and communities is unbridgeable.

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