Baltimore gets what it wanted...learns they didn't want what they wanted

[Leadeye]

Policing in the US is at a crossroads. LE is either going to become more like the fire service, where officers just respond to crimes that have already occurred. Pro-active policing will be minimal, likely reserved for very specialized units. Say one gang leader is suspected of numerous rival killings, to expand his territory and power. A task force will be formed specifically to deal with that individual. The basic patrol officers will no longer just get into people's business in an attempt to discover crimes being committed. The concept of "looking beyond the traffic stop" will end, either through law or policy changes. For example, a policy might change to say that if an officer pulls someone over for a traffic violation, there will be no request to search. If the officer sees some sort of prohibited item in plain view, they would be able to take action, but without any sort of eyes on, there would be no more "fishing." Deal with the current violation, be done. This is actually being discussed in master level public safety courses at universities.

I will say that if through law or policy changes LEOs are more restricted on what they can do, we will likely see much higher levels of crime. While there are arguments that pro-active policing is discriminatory and such, the physics of pro-active policing do play a party in reducing the number of guns in the hands of criminals, reducing drug meetups that might have turned into a gunfight has one party not been stopped by the police, etc.. When these physical interactions are minimized, more drugs and guns get from Point A to Point B (and maybe a Point C, D, etc.), which means we will likely have more shootings in parking lots, alleyways, homes, etc.. I'm not arguing for one way or another, but Baltimore wasn't the first city to deal with a "depolicing" mindset. Cincinnati went through the same thing during their big shooting incident which was almost two decades ago.

I think the reason depolicing didn't spread was because of lack of social media. Now, every single questionable, if not outright bad, police shooting is spread world wide within one second. There are so many platforms discussing the issue, rallying people on both sides, etc., that governments are now having to deal with protest groups that might form within minutes, and also have the ability to rally people together at a later time and date in even larger numbers. It might have been about a year ago, but some Chicago alderman was complaining about issues like stop and frisk, then turning around and claiming police weren't doing enough to stop the violence in the community. Well we can't have both. If the police interaction with people is reduced by 75%, like I said above, more guns and drugs are going to make it from Point A to Point B. Gang banger one who is tasked with shooting at a rival gang banger will be able to walk from his home to the point of engagement. If there is no more consensual engagement from LE, or even a care to stop people for minor infractions (Say Gang banger one jaywalks and this is witnessed by the police), then there is no physical impediment of his movement, his stolen gun isn't discovered, and thus he is able to carry out his plan of walking seven blocks and opening fire on some other people selling drugs on a corner.

I have no idea where policing is heading. The future definitely will be interesting for sure.

Info like this make me feel lucky to live in the woods.

 

[Herr Vogel]

Policing in the US is at a crossroads. LE is either going to become more like the fire service, where officers just respond to crimes that have already occurred.

While my viewpoint might [STRIKE]possibly[/STRIKE] be somewhat skewed, isn't that a good thing?
One, in my neck of the woods, that's all you can count on the police to do anyway -- show up to fill out the paperwork long after you've already been robbed and killed.
Two, the less the state does to intervene in the day to day lives of the citizens, the better.
Three, maybe it'll inspire people to take personal responsibility for the protection of themselves and their communities instead of relying on the state.

No disrespect meant to any LEOs here on the forum -- from what I've seen they seem to be fine individuals.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Herr Vogel has a point. At least out here in the sticks. When the townies (and to some point some of the county boys) try community policing, or basically anything other than old fashioned after the fact police work, they usually just end up looking like poorly educated and poorly trained knuckleheads trying to apply techniques they really don't understand. We do have a couple of shining stars who can connect with people intuitively, and a couple of students of human nature who work at it and do ok. But they are a distinct minority.