In my previous OpEd article I also explained how most of the perpetrators of these murders have gotten away with their crimes simply because they wear a badge. The New Mexico police officers were recently charged with murder. It took years to remove the officers who murdered Sean Bell in a hail of bullets from the NYPD. Most of the rest remain unaccountable along with their superiors who mismanaged their activities. These unnecessary tragedies events give local law enforcement a bad reputation nationally. But the problem could be easily solved in local law enforcement and prosecutors would make a commitment to a national initiative for accountability. Here are a few first steps that they could take to align their activities better with the U.S. Constitution and the protections from intrusion that Americans have been granted:
- Stop breaking into American homes to gather evidence of suspected crimes
The only legitimate reason for law enforcement to break into a civilian home without permission is to serve an arrest warrant that cannot otherwise be served
- Stop taxpayer funded sting operation -
Police have no business committing a crime or attempting to lure someone into committing a crime. Their job is supposed to be to prevent crime
- Stop expensive, taxpayer funded undercover operations that combat victimless crimes -
If the alleged crime has no direct victim there is no need to run an elaborate undercover operation in an attempt to prevent it
- Use independent prosecutors to investigate crimes committed by officers against civilians Prosecutors outside of the local departments that were involved in the crime are more likely to conduct an investigation impartially
- Hold public grand jury hearings for officers who commit crimes against civilians -
When prosecutors know that a grand jury hearing is going to be public they will be less likely to attempt to manipulate the jury with incomplete or distorted evidence
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