Trigger Happy
Let's go off on your tangent for just a moment.
I work for the only department in the United States that has successfully completed a U.S. Justice Dept. Consent Decree. It took us seven long years to accomplish that, and constantly being under the thumb of DOJ was not a picnic.
We conducted quarterly risk assessment audits with DOJ personnel present for every one of them. The audits essentially consisted of two areas: charging practices in those areas easily abused, and racial bias. The charges tracked included things like Obstruction of Justice, Resisting Arrest, Disorderly Conduct, etc. Possible racial bias was also tracked, and red flags went up on any officers who's stops involved 30% or more minorities. The red flags resulted in a microscopic analysis of the officer's actions, review of VICS tapes, private interviews with those the officer had encountered, etc.
Sounds good, so far, right? It would've been, had DOJ used a lick of common sense, which they're apparently incapable of. They analyzed the data statistically, which might work with a large dept. like LA or NYPD, but for a smaller dept. of 50 officers with statistically insignificant numbers, officers were being unfairly branded as biased.
Let me put it this way. You're a cop on my dept. You do your job well, but you work a sector with little activity in the way of resisting arrest. You charged two people last quarter with resisting, one white, and one black. You are now at 50% minority involvement and you're red flagged. Your professional life just became a living hell.
So much for statistics, huh?
By the way, in our 7 years under the decree, there was not one single allegation of racial bias sustained by USDOJ.
Now.... back to the thread topic
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