Almost 2 million arrests were drug related
With those staggering figures and knowing that the majority of arrests are Domestic related,
With a handful of arrests with accusations of abuse and death related to arrests , do you still think Police could do a better job with racial disparity ?
What needs to be done to better prepare Police Departments?
Care411
The truth is citizens are not at war with police. Being a cop in the USA is one of the safest jobs in America. It at times is one of the higher paid too. As you noted we have more police than any nation on the planet. Even compared to those who have much larger populations. We spend more on our police than many nations combine.
There are a lot of great stats. One thing as you pointed out, I think you intended to.... Police are overwhelmingly great. You did not include "public engagements" - this is a more generalized stastic though tracked - the number of times they have in person contact with someone in the country. Clearly police are very DAMN peaceful and calm. Clearly most citizens during the arrest are pretty cooperative.
However, 1043 people were still killed by police in 2019. 30ish of them were unarmed whites and 19 (I believe) were unarmed blacks. Humans had no opportunity to remotely pose a threat were murdered in public - in sight of witnesses with law enforcement understanding they were being watched or recorded.
We are giving police MRAPS, Tanks, Drones and other genuine weapons of war. WTF? It is 100% clear police are not at war with us and we are not at war with them. However, our government for the past 30 yrs has been arming police as if they are soldiers in foreign countries who must kill the enemy or be killed - thats not a cops job.
Look if I dress you in a football uniform what happens? You are ready for football. If I dress a man like a clown - what? He is ready to be silly. If you put a man in a tank and tell him people are trying to kill him hes ready for war. The militarization of police simply needs to end.
When police do murder another human.... Like you or I they should immediately be arrested - allowed the opportunity for bail (like you or I) then stand a jury trial (like you or I). It sucks but sometimes there is violence in the world. People are going to be murdered. But this BS of holding a cop who murders someone unaccountable or giving them special pleading. That - that...... is what has to and must change.
Foofa
Strip police unions of their power to control retention. Make more of an effort to enlist minority cops. Mandatory vest cams on every officer, always turned on. Stop the city attorneys who shell out millions in settlements without even defending abuse cases against the police. In every city where vest cams are mandatory both abuse claims and legit abuse has decreased. My own city has to borrow money to pay off all the specious claims against the PD.