Despite having slaves himself, one of America’s founding fathers, democratic spokesman and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The United States is a democracy. This means that our government, our politicians do not rule over the people. Our government and politicians derive their power from We, the People. Yes, we the people must give our consent to elected officials to create and enforce laws that are in the best interest of all of us, not only some of us.
Police unions must be outlawed for the organized criminal enterprises that they are. Forming a union in the United States is not criminal. But because police unions work effortlessly to protect criminal police activity, they directly subvert the equal protection under the law that the US Constitution guarantee for every citizen.
Police unions are much more dangerous to society at large than the mafia. Just like White Citizens’ Councils, an organized network of Southern white supremacist whose sole purpose was to maintain white supremacy in the South, police unions enjoy widespread public acceptance as a legitimate and harmless organization. Like White Citizens’ Councils, police unions use whistleblower intimidation tactics, strategically firings, threats and acts of physical violence against their opponents.
Federal, state or city governments will never outlaw local police unions. However, the People can. BDRPolice.org will organize to start in Initiative / Referendum states to begin our fight to dismantle these criminal enterprises. For the non-Initiative/Referendum states, BDRPolice.org will fund local and statewide anti-police union political candidates. Since many current politicians are intimidated by police union leaders, the People will organize and vote these fearful politicians out of office. BDRPolice.org is aware of the real dangers of continued or increased police brutality against black and brown people during this transformation period. Therefore, we strongly recommend that citizens who are historically mistreated by the police wear their own personal body camera. BDRP.org will also work to pass federal legislation that makes it a felony for any police officer to remove any citizen’s personal body camera while affecting and arrest or during any other interaction with the police. encourage anyone at risk of becoming a victim of police brutality wear their own body camera anytime they leave their home. The public should not rely on local police officers to keep their own body cam on during emotionally charged interactions with the public.
Many police unions and non-degreed police officers will argue that a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice is simply not necessary to be an effective police officer. They argue that police academy training is sufficient. BDRPolice.org holds the opposite position. Simply re-training non-degreed police officers is not a solution. In order to form a more perfect Union, we the People must change our perception of what it means to be a police officer. Being a police officer must become a profession, not a low-bar-to-entry job that calls for minimal salaries impossible work responsibilities.
As of 2020, in many municipalities across the US, a person can finish high school or get a GED, complete a 15 to 20-week police academy and start patrolling the streets with a gun and badge. These non-degreed police officers can wield deadly force on ANY citizen based on the police officer’s limited judgment, socialization and life experience. This is our current situation in the US.
Just having a bachelor’s degree in any random subject would not guarantee better policing; however, earning a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice ensures that the person has been taught the deeper meaning of the Constitution’s equal protection under the law. These students are also taught the history of policing, how implicit and unconscious racism can be, and the justified use of deadly force. A 20-week police academy training course cannot teach a high schooler with implicit, unconscious racial bias how to suddenly demonstrate good judgment in emotionally charged, life threatening policing situations.
By requiring police officers to first earn a 4-year Criminal Justice degree our society guarantees that these officers have 4 more years of academic responsibility, life experience and socialization, dealing with other people who may not look like, talk like or act like them. All these nuances and salient aspects of earning the 4-year Criminal Justice degree help create the psychological structure from which that police officer’s instincts and judgment arise.
Once we the People start churning out BDR-certified police officers, we must compensate them with professional salaries, including generous health, dental and retirement packages. BDRPolice.org uses our financial and community organizing influence to ensure that these officers are paid at least the median salary for the state that they live in. Some of our donations will go directly to these officers to supplement their lower pay while we lobby local mayors to allocate more of the city budget to pay these officers at the median state level.
