Police Reform

A young black woman is gunned down and killed in her bedroom.

An outstanding member of her community, she has done nothing wrong, she was asleep before the doors slammed open to armed intruders.

An older black male is shot in the head in his car. He is innocent and unarmed.

Another black male is strangled to death from behind, another young male is killed in his own front yard.

A woman is killed, a man is killed, families mourn, a community cries.

Loved ones and children of those so senselessly killed suffer — forever — at the loss of their father, mother, brother, sister, daughter, son, uncle, aunt.

There are three common denominators between these deaths and hundreds and thousands of more like these across the United States.

1. All of these people were innocent of a crime.
2. All of these people were unarmed.
3. All of these people were killed by the police.

It takes two years of study for a cosmetologist to obtain his or her license.

It requires intense study and a federal and a state license to become a stockbroker, investment advisor or a similar occupation.

A cosmetologist who misuses her position and damages your hair or nails can lose her license — permanently.

A stockbroker or investment advisor who misuses your money can lose their license permanently— and go to jail.

Are we holding cosmetologists and stockbrokers to a higher standard than we are holding our police?

We hold cosmetologists, stockbrokers and investment advisors to a higher level of duty, responsibility, authority, moral values and standard of care than “ordinary” people because, in their normal line of everyday work, they are responsible for something near and dear to us and the misuse of their authority can do us harm.

Why are law enforcement officers across the United States not held to a similar standard?

A law enforcement officer in the United States has authority over our very lives, and yet we do not hold them responsible for their abuse of that authority?

When we can send a stockbroker to jail for stealing a $100,000 of a person’s money yet a cop gets off scot-free for taking someone's life, we clearly have a serious — and growing problem in the United States.

A stockbroker must know every nuance and iota of investment law before they can get their license. They study intensely for weeks or months, and then their examination for their license goes on for an average of 3 to 4 hours.

A stockbroker must know their law inside and out.

An attorney studies for years and then must pass an arduous bar exam before they can begin their practice. Any malfeasance could mean the loss of their license.

Yet, police officers are not held to this standard. Shouldn’t someone whose very job is to uphold and enforce the law know what the law is? In many, many cases, they do not.

A stockbroker must recertify their license every two years. In many jurisdictions, so do cosmetologists.

In many states and cities, cops don’t even need a license and in those where a license is required, a periodic renewal is almost unheard of.

Yet we require attorneys, engineers, stockbrokers, airline pilots, flight attendants and many others to retest, recertify or prove their skills on a periodic basis in order to continue their job, but a cop does not? Something is wrong in America and it needs to be fixed.

Police departments in the United States are growing increasingly more defensive and more hostile to the public they have sworn to “protect and serve.” In many cases, the only people they are “protecting and serving” is themselves and their fellow officers.

Then they wonder why the public sees the police as more and more offensive to the people in both character and nature.

If people who know about a crime in advance or after a crime is committed and do not report it are considered an accomplice to that crime, why is it that a police officer who covers up for another officer who has committed a crime or who protects another cop that he or she knows has committed a crime not also considered an accomplice? In the United States, they usually are not.

All these examples and many thousands more underscore how serious the police threat is to the American people. The misuse of power, police brutality and outright murder of innocent citizens by law enforcement must stop.

This is how we do it.

1. A federal and state law enforcement license must be obtained before any law enforcement officer can begin their law enforcement duties. This includes any and all customs and border patrol, highway patrol, game wardens, reservation police, environmental police, campus and university police, state, city, county police and sheriffs departments and any and all other personnel who engage with the public and enforce the law.
2. This license must be in effect while the law enforcement officer is a law enforcement officer and must be renewed every two years at the state and federal level.
3. A two or four year law enforcement or jurisprudence degree is required to obtain a law enforcement license from any suitably accredited institution of higher learning.
4. A law enforcement officer must also attend and graduate a state-authorized law enforcement academy of a length of study of the state’s determination prior to beginning law enforcement duties. This may represent the “state-side” of the Law Enforcement License.
5. Personal law enforcement insurance must be obtained and be valid and active while enrolled as a police or law enforcement officer. Insurance companies have the authority to determine their own standards of issuing and revoking said insurance policy. Insurance companies shall retain, in their sole discretion, the right to issue, decline, deny, suspend, modify, revoke or terminate any Law Enforcement Insurance Policy as the Insurance Company shall so determine. The police officer must pay for this insurance out of their own pocket and it cannot be paid for by the state or their employer or any other source or authority. Loss of insurance will revoke or terminate the law enforcement officer’s law enforcement license and thus their authority to enforce the law.
6. A law enforcement officer must provide material, medical and financial support to all survivors and or victims of any person who is injured or killed while under their responsibility, care or jurisdiction or during or within the administration of their duty. This support will be paid through their law enforcement policy.
7. Law Enforcement Licenses will issue under a series of “Schedules.”
8. A “Schedule One” License (Basic Law Enforcement Officer) requires an Associates degree only (in Law Enforcement or Jurisprudence). The Law Enforcement Officer holding such a License is not authorized to carry a gun nor may conduct law enforcement duties in the community or engage in law enforcement activities with the public. This Schedule restricts the holder to administrative and other desk duty work and requires the holder to undertake 3 months or 60 calendar days of community-building and interaction in townhalls and forums with the public each year.
9. A Schedule Two License — Advanced Police Patrol Officer, requires a four-year (Bachelor’s) degree in Law Enforcement or Jurisprudence, and permits the holder to carry a gun and engage with the public in patrol activities and law enforcement. A Schedule One License is not required in order to obtain a Schedule Two License.
10. A Schedule Three License (Team Leader, Supervisor) may issue only to those who have held an active Schedule Two License, without department, governmental or public sanction, for three or more years. Additional training in law, de-escalation, team management and other such areas as deemed necessary and appropriate by federal, state or local authorities is required.
11. Schedule Four Licenses, (Shift Leader, Division Leader, Department Head) require a four-year degree in law enforcement or jurisprudence and may be issued only to those who have held a Schedule Three License for no less than one year.
12. Schedule Forty-Four (S44), (Police Trainer) Licenses are issued only to those with a four-year law enforcement or jurisprudence degree, who have held a Schedule Three License with no sanctions for two or more years and who have received specialized training and education in conducting and managing, training and education. This License grants law enforcement officers the authority to conduct “on-the-job” training and education to other officers while on patrol or at a station or department or other “active” police facility, (not an Academy).
13. A Schedule Five License (Advanced Police Patrol (Law Enforcement) Officer, Lieutenant) and all subsequent licenses requires a Graduate degree in law enforcement or jurisprudence, is issued only to those holding a Schedule Four License without sanction for no less than two years and authorizes asset seizures, interdiction and Constitutional encounters. Extensive training in specific law and the Constitution is required.
14. Schedule Fifty-One (S51), (Special Weapons and Tactics or any similar role (Riot Police)), is issued only to those who have held a Schedule Four License without sanction for three or more years and who have successfully completed the specialized training and education required for the effective performance of those duties granted by this License.
15. Schedule Fifty-Three (S53), (Education Officer); issued only to those who have served without blemish in their respective department for five or more years, have held a Schedule Four License for no less than two years, have received specialized training in education, and who hold a four or more year degree in Teaching, Training or Education from an accredited four-year institution. This License authorizes the holder to conduct education and or training of Law Enforcement Officer candidates at a state-authorized Academy or school.
16. Schedule Fifty-Five (S55), (Detective, Investigator). This license is issued only to those who have served unselfishly and without blemish for five or more years, have held a Schedule Four License for three or more years and have received extensive, specialized education and training both in the field and academically in this area. Only those holding a Schedule Four License or higher may work with, assist or participate with a S55.
17. Schedule Six (S6), (Head of Force, Chief, Commissioner). Issued only to those who have held a Schedule Five License for five or more years, who have served unselfishly and have no blemishes on their record for no less than the past five years. This License grants authority to oversee, manage and officiate over a Police Force, city Police Department or similar force or agency. This License requires additional training and education in interfacing and communicating with the public and managing and officiating over a group or force.
18. Schedule Sixty-Six (S66), (VICE, Undercover). This License is granted only to those who have held a Schedule Five License without blemish for no less than three years and have successfully completed all training, education and other requirements for this role. Only state officials so authorized or Schedule Six holders may grant a Schedule Sixty-Six License or authorize the completion of an application to obtain a Schedule Sixty-Six License.
19. Citizens Police Review Committee. A Citizens Police Review Committee will be comprised of citizen, civilian (non-police) volunteers in each community or jurisdiction where a law enforcement presence exists. This Committee will be composed of two sections:
20. Citizens Police Task Force (CopWatch, Auditors or similar). Volunteers from the community will, whenever possible and without endangerment to themselves or to the public, go to, attend and record, both video and audio whenever possible, any and all interactions between the public and any and all police or law enforcement encounters. These Members must maintain a distance of no less than fifteen (15) feet from police and not interfere by speech or gesture with the encounter. Whenever possible, Volunteers should receive specialized training for these duties.
21. No Law Enforcement Officer may request, require or demand a Volunteer filming or recording a Police interaction with a citizen or public to stop recording or hand-over any recording or device or to step back further than fifteen (15) feet unless Officer or civilian safety should so require. A Law Enforcement Officer in violation hereof shall be guilty of a crime of the degree determined by the appropriate authority or jurisdiction.
22. Police Review Committee. This Committee, composed of volunteers from the community will review each interaction between the police and the public which is brought to them or in which they have expressed an interest. This Committee has the authority to review any video and audio including official Police bodycam, patrol vehicle and other footage and audio. Police departments have no more than ten (10) days to turn over to the Committee all and any requested video, documentation or audio. This material cannot be edited or altered in any way. Upon review of any said recordings or documentation by the Committee, further action may be recommended by the Committee. The Committee may recommend suspension of any Officer’s active duty or of their Law Enforcement license. The Committee may recommend further action to a federal Special Prosecutor for Police Affairs who will be appointed by the Department of the Treasury.
23. Special Prosecutor for Police Affairs. This office will consist of individuals appointed by the Department of the Treasury and shall cover those jurisdictions as so determined by the Department. This Special Prosecutor shall have authority to review all cases within their jurisdiction of police misconduct, police brutality, any cases referred to them by the Citizens Police Review Committee, conduct unbecoming an officer of the law, deaths or homicides caused by or within the conduct or control of a police officer or department. This Office shall hold Prosecutor authority within the jurisdiction over which they preside.
24. Where issued, bodycams must always be turned on during an encounter or interaction with the public. Any Law Enforcement Officer who turns off said video or audio shall be guilty of a crime of the degree determined by the appropriate authority or jurisdiction.
25. Patrol vehicle video and audio must remain in operation and running during service. A Law Enforcement Officer who turns off said video or audio shall be guilty of a crime of the degree determined by the appropriate authority or jurisdiction.
26. A Law Enforcement Officer shall not receive employment compensation from local, state or federal authorities, employers or jurisdictions while their Law Enforcement License is suspended. Any compensation must issue from the issuer of their Law Enforcement Officer insurance policy.
27. Asset Seizure. No assets may be seized and retained for longer than ninety (90) days without a Court issuing a Special Retention Order, with such Order issued only upon evidence providing proof of a crime with the seized assets being the “profits” of that crime, submitted to the Court by the Officer’s so seizing the assets upon the seizing of those assets. Assets returned will be returned with market interest applied within ninety (90) days of seizure. Assets seized within the last fifteen (15) years must also be returned unless evidence is provided to the Court that a crime was committed and the assets seized are “profits” of that crime. Interest on these assets must also be returned with appropriate market interest applied. All seizures of money must be returned unless the seizing agency can provide proof of a crime and that the money seized is the “profit” obtained from that crime, regardless of the age of the seizure. Appropriate interest must be applied. Current asset seizure interest and asset seizure interest due on assets seized within the last three years must be remitted by the seizing Officer’s insurance provider, not the department, employer or agency.
28. Any Law Enforcement Officer, upon the witness of any crime by a fellow officer, or of any police brutality, conduct unbecoming or malfeasance of duty by another Law Enforcement Officer is required to step in and stop that Officer or be guilty as an accessory or accomplice.
29. Any Law Enforcement Officer conducting any intentional misrepresentation of facts, any falsification, altering or tampering of a police report, records or recordings, documentation or evidence, whether written, recorded, live or verbal before a court, jury, or a superior officer, or upon the submission of such to any court or jury or authorized agency or as part of his or her official records or documentation to the department or any organization, shall be construed as committing a criminal offense and any persons knowingly assisting, aiding, abetting or agreeing to any such action shall be considered an accomplice or accessory.
30. Only a Schedule Six (S6), (Head of Force, Chief, Commissioner) may fire an officer. A termination shall proceed only through direct evidence presented by any other officer, Training Officer, Academy administration or the Citizens Review Committee. Reasons to terminate may include any of those actions listed in 29 above and those other actions as determined by federal or state law or which the jurisdiction may from time to time determine. Termination will forfeit that Officer’s pension and any other retirement benefits. An Officer may resign voluntarily prior to the presentation or submission of any evidence to the Citizens Review Committee, Special Prosecutor for Police Affairs or a Schedule Six (S6) Officer thereby preserving their benefits except when any Officer convicted of a crime shall also lose any and all benefits.