04-20-2021, 11:11 PM
sekker wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
[quote=cbelt3]
[quote=sekker]
When cities stopped having police live in the metropolitan areas they are responsible for, they became an occupational force and not a civilian support organization.
I would be interested in studies about that. Neighborhood personal relationships are important, but institutional racism is so deep that living there won't help, IMHO. And there are always 'enclaves' even in the least diverse minority neighborhoods.
It's about understanding, caring about and being part of the community. Not some drop in mercenary force.
Many towns probably could not hire enough people if this were a rule. But something is wrong when 100% of the cops live elsewhere.
Lots has been written and studied on this since Ferguson.
Yes, my comment is not the only issue. But I lived in Baltimore in the end of the last century, and there was a tangible difference in how the police operated - and the community handled - the officers that lived in Baltimore and those that came from outside the city. The police that walked the streets and knew the neighborhood were tangibly different than those that floated through in their cars.
Yes we need that connection again for public safety, to begin to restore trust.