OPINION:
Prejudicial acts by officers are incompatible with police work, and a general consensus exists that some form of police reform is needed. I believe that all fair-minded citizens want all police officers to be held fully accountable for their actions. Adjustments of rules and standard protocols could be helpful. Defunding the police is not only counterproductive, it isn’t desired by the overwhelming majority of our population. A real need exists to get into the heads of policemen and -women and into the inherent culture of police work.
The military services faced a somewhat similar issue in the late 1960s and early 1970s over fair and equal treatment of all its members. Their solution was a mandatory statement to be included in the fitness evaluation reports of all of its leaders. This statement specifically addressed the ability of the person being reported upon to actually exhibit, in both word and deed, that they were fully committed to the equal opportunity and fair treatment of all people regardless of race, creed or color. I believe that this change positively refocused the culture of the services in a way that clearly indicated to all personnel that if you did not receive a positive characterization on this issue, your future service would be limited and ultimately non-existent.
If all police officers at all levels were to regularly receive such an evaluation, substantial and long-term positive, meaningful reform would in fact occur.
MALCOLM OGILVIE
Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.
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