The problem !

 

Why the confrontations with Police ?

To start with there is a small faction of African/Americans, who for what ever reason, don't respect the rule of law and those that have to administer it. This faction has it's reasons and to a great extent they are valid and need addressed if we are ever to get to a level playing field.

This faction causes a unique set of problems that law enforcement has yet to address at the staffing level. That is, physical presence. 50 years ago you would be hard pressed to find a law enforcement officer shorter than 6 ft. and 250 lb. kind of football linebacker size, that had intimidation factor going for them but, due to the shortage of qualified personnel the standards were lowered to allow smaller people to enter the force.

These people, male or female, have a place in law enforcement but without the intimidation factor they are more apt to be involved in some type of physical confrontation with a subject that is bigger and stronger plus likely not to respect the uniform enough to allow them to be arrested without a fight, even ending in death at times. All the sensitivity training in the world will not stop this even though less than 1% of those that resist ever get away and even those get caught at a later date.

The obvious solution is to hire bigger people to the force but with the current sentiment of some of the country, nobody of any size, wants anything to do with law enforcement in the areas that need it most.

Defunding the police is not the answer, just as more sensitivity training won't help [ anyone who thinks that, should ride with one on a Fri. or Sat. night and see what they have to deal with] although some training could be used in evaluating a suspects health at time of arrest to determine if maybe they should pass by the E/R on the way to booking to be sure the suspect is not having some type of serious health event that would preclude incarceration.

What I've stated here is a small part of getting this problem under control but it is a necessary one.