The problem isn't the police...it's the politicians.

06/16/2020

HONORABLE SENATORS, GOVERNORS, CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES, MAYORS, POLICE COMMISSIONERS

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

I am writing this letter as a call to action to pass legislation that requires a new level of standardization and transparency for all police departments within the United States of America.

The 14th Amendment adopted on July 9, 1868, guarantees all citizens ‘equal protection under the law’. In the 152 years since the adoption of that amendment we have witnessed increasingly flagrant violations of these basic rights, fomenting an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has spanned generations. We must address the systemic racism and inequalities that are inherent in our legal and criminal justice systems and recognize the disproportionate effect this disparity has on people of color and the communities where they live. This issue has been mislabeled for too long as a problem within our black communities or as a matter solely pertaining to people of color. This is a humanitarian crisis - it must be addressed. We must not allow ourselves to lapse into apathetic behavior either because of inertia, lack of empathy or education, or simply because we don’t know what to do.  At minimum we know that all people deserve equal protection and treatment under the law and we must work together to fix it.  The Standards for Compliance and Openness of Police Engagement Act of 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the “S.C.O.P.E Act”) should be written as a living piece of legislation that will evolve over time and establish standards for conduct, transparency, engagement and protection of individual civil rights. Below is a framework of proposed reforms that should be considered as a starting point for the S.C.O.P.E Act or any resulting legislation.

Principles of Conduct

·      Create a national whistleblower hotline to ensure officers can report infractions free of repercussions. Whistleblower complaints should be monitored and investigated at state and/or federal levels to ensure independence and proper enforcement of violations.

·      Police departments nationwide should be required to adopt and publish guidelines on the use of force.  Consider utilizing the Camden NJ Police Department Guidelines listed below: (Link to Camden NJ Use of Force Principles).

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 1: Officers may use force only to accomplish specific law enforcement objectives. 

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 2: Whenever feasible, officers should attempt to de-escalate confrontations with the goal of resolving encounters without force. Officers may only use force that is objectively reasonable, necessary, and as a last resort. 

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 3: Officers must use only the amount of force that is proportionate to the circumstances.

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 4: Deadly force is only authorized as a last resort and only in strict accordance with this directive. 

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 5: Officers must promptly provide or request medical aid. 

o   CORE PRINCIPLE 6: Employees have a duty to stop and report uses of force that violate any applicable law and/or this directive.                                             

Transparency

·      Expand the Freedom of Information Act at the state/federal levels; mandating that all police departments record all civilian interactions via dashboard cameras and on person recording devices. 

·      All officer complaint data including disciplinary actions should be published to the department website and made available on demand to the public. 

·      All police departments nationwide must submit data to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, and the data should be available for analysis at the state/city levels.

·      As data collection and dissemination standards are established each state should set a target date to make the raw data available to the public. The data should be used to formulate a letter grade for each department with annual recertification by the state.

Community Engagement

·      Retrain police officers to adopt a guardian mindset wherein they prioritize working with the public to mitigate crime, as opposed to a warrior mindset where officers view themselves as aggressors fighting crime. The latter mentality puts officers in a position of immediate conflict with the people in the communities they serve, and teaches officers to view citizens as suspects that must be persecuted rather than people they need to help and protect.

·      Precincts should offer mandated town halls (monthly or quarterly), with schedules posted at the precinct and online, to facilitate community engagement. Citizens should know the officers sworn to protect and serve their communities, and officers should familiarize themselves with people in the community and listen to issues that affect them.  

·      Officers should do regular foot patrols within their districts to encourage positive interaction via direct engagement.

·      Require training in racial sensitivity and effective communication for all department officers with annual recertification by the city and state.

Civil Rights Violations

·      Any police enforcement act deemed to violate the 14th amendment should be reviewed at the state and federal levels to determine if disciplinary action is warranted.

·      Officers found in violation of 14th amendment rights and/or disciplined within a department or terminated for cause should be listed in a statewide and/or nationwide database. Depending on the circumstances of the disciplinary action or termination, officers should only be certified for rehire after extensive retraining.

·      Police union reform to limit involvement only to matters on compensation and benefits.

·      Support the Amash-Pressley legislation to end qualified immunity and the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, if not in entirety, at minimum in instances of clear civil rights violations.

o   Amash-Pressley Bill website.

o   Ending Qualified Immunity Act

o   Justice of Policing Act website.

o   Justice of Policing Act of 2020

This letter is a vehicle to add my voice of support to the reform effort that is so desperately needed to eliminate pervasive and systemic inequality.  However, we need this important matter to be taken up as a bipartisan issue and not the rallying cry of a single party. This is a humanitarian crisis that affects us all, which requires far-reaching and inclusive dialogue with representation from government at all levels, the police and our citizens. We have an opportunity to channel the anger, frustration and outrage accumulated over decades by taking positive steps to create a higher level of engagement and cooperation across all lines. The S.C.O.P.E Act is intended to increase positive interaction, accountability and ensure the formation of a partnership between police departments and the communities they serve. I invite you to take the first step by working together to create a comprehensive piece of legislation in the way that the forefathers of this country wrote the Constitution, so that as more effective ideas are introduced they can be incorporated into the law.  

There are many obstacles to police reform, but we cannot allow indolence to prevent us from solving this humanitarian crisis that has plagued our country for decades, and has thus far been neglected due to apathy and inaction.  This crisis is unacceptable, and the recent deaths of George Floyd and countless others have been a wakeup call to the nation. This is an indictment on everyone in this country; we have failed as a society, and we should be tireless in our effort to get this right, by striving to realize the vision that was laid out in our Constitution.

SINCERELY,

JOFFRE C. WELLS