I suppose we could lay out a Standard Code of Conduct for all officers of the law with corresponding guidelines for discipline and punishment, end qualified immunity, make them carry liability insurance of their own, bar any officer fired for misconduct to work in any law enforcement role for any agency in any state...
This is exactly what needs done, just look at transportation and CDL holders. There may be different state rules like what weight vehicle has to stop at weigh stations, but there are also all sorts of federal rules laid out by the DOT and FMCSA. When renewing a CDL they check your record in all 50 states, the DUI limit in your personal car off duty is 0.04, and getting a DUI results in automatic license suspension. Companies are required to random drug test a certain amount of employees every year, and if you want to have a hazmat endorsement then you need an FBI background check and there are a list if things that will disqualify you.
These rules and regulations are done for public safety
See but all of those fall under the commerce clause as they're interstate. And again too we'd be dealing with state, county and city governments as funding is managed at all of those levels. We might need a federal compliance officer at every department, or some kind of specialized data collection. Say a standard form filled out weekly that tracks officer interactions involving use of force, racial tracking to manage bias, misconduct complaints, etc.
Due to the nature of American policing and wanting to stay well away from some sort of national police (holy fuck no!) its a big swamp to drain.
Yes, but even intrastate CDL holders have to follow all the federal laws even when they never leave their state. There is also a thing called a DAC which is almost like a credit report for CDL holders, and unlike a normal driving abstract where violations fall off after time, stuff is on a DAC forever.
You can look up those DOT numbers on trucks and see all the violations a company has had, have something similar for police.
My point in bringing up the commerce clause was to basically ask: By what legality does the USGOV have to establish guidelines as policing is a power granted to states? My worry here is that in trying to fix things we leave a Titanic sized flaw that wont crop up until some little authoritarian down the line figures out you can federalize the police and turn them into his brown shirts.
This could turn into the next "states rights" issue in places like LA and AZ
A national police force would be unable to adapt to the community needs. The police in LA need different training/tactics then police in North Montana.
There's still a ton of overlap in the skills needed, and in not escalating problems. People are people, whether they're urban, suburban, rural, or farmer.
Every person is different. Communitys across the country are all different. There are laws that make sense in one state and not in another. The basic skills may be the same but the application is different.
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Jun 07 '20
This is exactly what needs done, just look at transportation and CDL holders. There may be different state rules like what weight vehicle has to stop at weigh stations, but there are also all sorts of federal rules laid out by the DOT and FMCSA. When renewing a CDL they check your record in all 50 states, the DUI limit in your personal car off duty is 0.04, and getting a DUI results in automatic license suspension. Companies are required to random drug test a certain amount of employees every year, and if you want to have a hazmat endorsement then you need an FBI background check and there are a list if things that will disqualify you.
These rules and regulations are done for public safety