American Police are Creating Instability

American police are creating instability and ill will across the country. Their actions are causing demonstrations and riots where people are hurt, property is damaged and commerce is lost. Since the LA riots of 1992 this country has had civil disturbances every five years or so. The catalyst is always police violence.

Incidents of police conduct continue to happen without penalty. The public does not get an apology or any acknowledgement of wrongdoing. There is no revision to policies and procedures. The police simply continue with their business as usual and destroy any goodwill between people groups in a multi racial society.

Not only do the police increase tension across the US they are bankrupting local governments. Police officers are rarely punished for their recklessness but cities usually pay the victims or their families a settlement. The tax payers are penalized for the losses that police officers cause.

I have to wonder if this is by design and if police officers are simply agents of chaos used to create racial tension. If it is not part of their purpose someone clearly benefits from this byproduct of their practices. Police officers seem to want to intimidate and be authoritarians to the communities they surveil.

By now the police surely could have made changes to how they conduct their business and treat people particularly Black Americans who make up the brunt of their victims. But they don’t, they simply defend their actions with no remorse. Officers in high profile police brutality cases have even been arrogant enough to write a book or be interviewed by a newspaper in which they see themselves as victims. It’s maddening.

American police are creating instability in the United States. American police are bankrupting local governments. There is no excuse for behavior that is repeated with no attempt to change. If American policing doesn’t change America is going to implode. The conflict that police cause is not conducive to a functioning country. It is not sustainable.