Police Reform: DOA

President Joe Biden is poised to release his plan to use his executive power to institute changes in police reform, something that is always on the “to do” list for a divided nation, but is not high on that list for law enforcement. Law enforcement associations have historically been against liberal leaning policies, getting universal support from conservatives who tout respect for police officers. Somehow that respect for those in blue seems to have disappeared after Donald Trump led his supporters to riot/fight/injure scores of police officers at the Capitol January 6, 2021. Conservatives and even law enforcement associations have been mostly quiet. After it was revealed that some of the rioters were law enforcement officers, retired and active. Trump recently said that the officer who killed Ashli Babbitt as she was warned not to proceed through a door, was called a “national disgrace” to the abject silence from conservatives and law enforcement organizations. Nonetheless the moment President Biden announces his intentions concerning police reform, he is immediately attacked as trying “to save his presidency” after suffering defeats at the hands of the Supreme Court over his COVID-19 mandates. Biden’s intentions, noble they may be, has been called “ill-timed” and they will cause further divide at a time when police officers are being killed. It should be understood that no president “has the power” to prevent/predict when anyone will die, whether it is a police officer or private citizens. We all face the same danger when we leave our homes or meet our tragic demise within our homes. The need for police reform is real and if we are honest, including those in law enforcement, the conversation would have begun long ago.

There will be talk that the president and Democrats/progressives are “not supportive” of law enforcement, knowing that is not true. However, like just about everything else in this nation, everything is political. President Biden, as we all know is facing a hostile Republican party who will obstruct his polices at every opportunity, as they did with Barack Obama. The COVID-19 was in place to protect all Americans, encouraging the public to get vaccinated, to protect each other. Because of politics and the “right” to not get vaccinated, even by some police officers and military personnel, the pandemic has only gotten worse. Politicians and police officers can’t fight a virus, because it is not Democrat/Republican, Black/white, does not discriminate and can’t vote.

The tactic being employed by those blaming President Biden for problems that have been with this nation for decades, is to keep the conversation about police reform from happening. Problems faced by this nation are not going to be resolved as long as the divisions continue; police reform is one of them. Yes, there is violent crime in this nation despite the millions, if not billions of dollars that are poured into communities all over the nation. Perhaps our leaders in Washington and across this nation can learn from other industrialized nations where the crime rate is way less. The answers will not be found in pointing fingers or passing more laws. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world and the numbers continue to increase. We should wait until we see what President Biden’s plan is and then have a healthy dialogue on where we go from there. However, as long as we listen to those whose agenda is “to divide” instead of uniting around a common but needed theme, this “house” called America will surely fall. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.