Police Review Board
A caller on a local radio talk show recently asked why anyone would NOT want a review board for the Champaign Police. This individual was passionate in his discussion. He offered that if the Police did nothing wrong, they should have nothing to fear ... just as the Police tell citizens.
In principle, this is a legitimate argument. Any agency performing a function on behalf of the public should be subject to oversight of some sort. In principle, the statement that someone doing no wrong ought not fear consequences is correct, whether it applies to law enforcement officers or high school kids.
In principle.
However, I have great reservations about how all this may transpire in practice, especially now. Many talk show callers and e-news posters are convinced a review board is necessary either to punish Police or to protect Police. There seems to be little objectivity or impartiality. The desire for a review body seems to be promoted by the extremes, not the middle; those with a predisposed agenda or an axe to grind. Given this motivation, the review body could end up representing the worst of the community, the most militant and vocal, not the fairest or wisest.
I also fear the tyranny of Political Correctness. PC can overwhelm common sense, and has done so in this community. It would be the Police who will be intimidated, not lawbreakers. I fear if a review board gets out of hand the Police will be as handicapped in protecting and serving a peaceful community as teachers now are in imposing discipline in the classroom.
For now, I submit the appropriate action is to maintain the status quo, ensure existing checks and balances are working and avoid a knee-jerk reaction that will make matters worse. A review board may be a necessary and constructive service for the community. But it should be formed under an entirely different set of circumstances than exist here at present.
It always amazes me how many citizens have no interest in monitoring their governments activities. The vast majority rely upon a smaller minority to elect representatives in managing our affairs and assume these individuals maintain constant vigil on the various departments upon which we rely.
Which they do, with the exception of our Law Enforcement, a highly secretive and covert group, with tremendous powers of life and death, unable to be monitored or audited in any manner. A clannish group with unlimited search and seasure powers, that can without warrant, tap, search and detain with near impunity.
And yet those who claim they want accountable and smaller government state “appropriate action is to maintain the status quo”, falsely believing that there are “existing checks and balances” where none exist.
Amazing isn’t it, how normal people can be so easily deceived when it comes to the illusion of community safety. Implicitly trusting that which no one can test and none can validate, giving more and more to those we cannot monitor and discrediting any attempt to build accountable infrastructures.
An Orwellian future now upon us and well tended.
Commonsenseman.....Your post leads me to believe that you are a current member of the Champaign Police Dept. who is afraid of translucency and honesty within our present law enforcement system. Why shouldn't there be a proper check and balance system in place, so as to help alleviate any possible accusations or false claims? BTW, it's "race "baiting".
Actually, "commonsenseman's" post reads less like he is a member of the CPD and more like he is a member of the KKK.
As does this one: http://www.news-gazette.com/forum/2011-03-06/why-cant-police-stop-jaywal...
Yes,that's exactly what we need ,criminals,people closely related to criminals,liberals,or people with no common sense to scrutinize every move the police make.NOT!!!This is nothing but the thugs of society trying to get a free pass.I personally don't want any immoral or people of questionable values having any say in the way or blocking the police force from doing there honorable duty to protect and to serve that keeps society safe.
There seems to be considerable confusion between the breakdown in our social order, driven by decades of deliberately destructive social welfare programs culminating in related degeneration of family values - with the emerging police state that endangers us all.
Without question we have a crisis emerging within our communities, being driven by dysfunctional family clans that provide ever increasing numbers of hoodlums for evolving gang structures. Individuals programmed by a violent and Luciferian cult based entertainment industry, where hedonism and narcissim are the primary focus.
But lets not confuse social upheaval, community challenges and interracial stress with the need to adequately monitor those who have the power of life and death over us.
No one ever said that a citizen review board would control our police, nor should they. But right now, none of us, either in this forum or in the community can even begin to evaluate the performance of our ENFORCEMENT agencies.
None of us have any real tools to even form the right questions, because none of us know what really goes on, nor do we have any auditing capabilities of the most powerful local government agency we unquestioningly fund. Our ENFORCEMENT agencies.
If we allow the citizenry to become more engaged in Police affairs, does it not make for better civilian relationship? By allowing the auditing and monitoring of Police activities, does it not provide for greater confidence by all citizens? To involve the community in evaluating collected data, does it not promote greater solutions to be presented? And to allow the community to see inside the cloistered order of the brotherhood, does it not insure greater integrity and improved harmony among all community members?
There’s a reason why ENFORCEMENT does not want citizenry accountability and you need only to look throughout history as to why.
“It cannot even be said that the State has ever shown any disposition to suppress crime, but only to safeguard its own monopoly of crime”. - Albert Jay Nock
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