To deter abusive policing, punishment must be swifter and more severe

National Post, 05 June 2020

The swift firing and charging of the officers involved in the death of George Floyd was unusual. That needs to change.

The international outrage over the killing of George Floyd, spawning protests across America and around the world, has an urgency to it. The insistent call is for action, not just talk, no matter how impassioned.

Actions have to be specific. The scale of the protest may unintentionally dissipate the momentum for such concrete reform; when a great number of people are voicing a broad range of grievances, the general can become the enemy of the specific.

The specific issue at hand is police brutality against black men. Racist policing is a type of bad policing. A call about an alleged counterfeit $20 banknote that results in a death is very bad police work. Bad, abusive policing will have a greater impact on racial minorities. So it would be best to start there.

Police brutality is a species of abuse of power. Abuses of power are corrected by preventing and punishing abusers, and limiting the power that can be abused.

Continue reading at the National Post:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-j-de-souza-to-deter-abusive-policing-punishment-must-be-swifter-and-more-severe?video_autoplay=true