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Carolyn Coles's avatar

These questions are fantastic and as a PhD student studying criminology - specifically policing practices - I can answer most of them and I can also predict what most chiefs will say. As a Black woman, my goal is to find the best public safety framework to serve the nations citizenry because what we have doesn't benefit all. There is a misconception that police chiefs are tuned into the nuances of the rank and file, let alone engaged in the national conversation surrounding these concerns. I'd be curious to see if any journalist will take up the helm and ask any of these. I think the academy has done a phenomenal job of investigating these inquiries but a poor job at transferring that knowledge to practitioners. Keep the wheels turning!!!!

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Mary Ellen Spicuzza's avatar

Excellent questions. I have been thinking about the Highland Park IL shooting and the shooting in Akron OH. Even though the largest portion of most municipal budgets go to the police departments and sworn officers carry around lethal weapons, the police seldom prevent violent crime and in fact often cause violence. The well-ordered militias talked about in the 2nd Amendment were probably giving the states the excuse to keep their slave patrols and those evolved into the police forces we have today. The underlying paradigm is hate-filled and full of scorn for the citizenry. Not surprising, anger and destruction are bursting up everywhere in this country and easily expressed because guns are ubiquitous. Our culture is saturated with hatred and contempt and the means to express that hatred and contempt with easily obtained guns.

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