Is It Time For Police To Carry Liability Insurance?
Interesting suggestion, by my brother @AndrayDomise today on Twitter.
Given the ever present spate of police killings in the U.S. (604 as of today) and with police training and temperament of the officers they hire being front and center in the discussion there and here in Canada...is liability insurance one way to get police to utilize their de-escalation techniques vs. going straight to guns when dealing with members of the public?
READ: Ombudsman’s report slams police training as the problem
Here's the thing when you're dealing with a systemic issue, you can propose systemic ways to solve it. This is why I talk about systemic White Supremacy & not "racism". To many, "racism" is an opinion, protected by rights. "You may not like it, but they are entitled to their opinion", conveniently forgetting that action follows thoughts and beliefs.
Those actions fuelled by racism (explicit or implicit), result in disastrous consequences. For instance, a police officer, with a low IQ, who's been poorly trained and holds an irrational "fear" of Black people would be the first to pull a gun and fire it as opposed to one who is his complete opposite.
No, I'm not being a dick. In the US, police departments hire low IQ people on purpose & it was deemed "non-discriminatory" by the federal court in the U.S. because they were weeding out all the people who scored too high on IQ tests. Seriously.
READ: US Court Says it’s Okay for Police Departments to Refuse to Hire Someone who is Too Smart
That police officer regardless of his "fear" or beliefs should have a price to pay. As it is, they don't. The law abiding citizens do. In the millions of dollars.
As a taxpayer, why do you foot the bill for misconduct? Instituting liability insurance is a great systematic way of dealing with a systemic problem: Police who overreact violently, killing (mostly Black) people. Why? Because it's easier to draw and fire your weapon, knowing that you will be protected by your union and championed by a racist media...or maybe your amygdala is overdeveloped and you were overcome by an irrational fear...either way...time to put the cost back onto police officers.
RELATED: Police deaths: Ontario ombudsman's 22 recommendations on reducing fatal interactions
The great thing about living in a capitalist society that values money over all is eventually you figure out how to use it to your advantage. You may have been "afraid for your life" because an unarmed, big Black guy was breathing...but try telling that to your insurance guy when your premium goes up :)
KB