| His book is from 2016, which I assume was referencing the 2014 high. https://whyy.org/articles/complaints-excessive-police-force-... > With about a month left in 2017, 15 complaints are on the books, roughly half of last year’s total. > In 2014, the total was 65 – the highest in a state that has its share of crime-ridden cities. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-04/how-camde... > By the department’s account, reports of excessive force complaints in Camden have dropped 95% since 2014. I can't find many sources about the number of excessive force complaints in Camden after 2014. Assuming the numbers are accurate, I'd say the lesson is that it isn't a magic bullet. You might end up hiring a bunch of sadistic assholes again anyway. But without a union obstructing everything you do, it does give you a lot of power over regulating conduct and implementing guidelines for how officers apply (or don't apply) force, how they handle potentially dangerous situations, how they handle people in general, whether they prefer de-escalation over seeing citizens purely as dangers to be dealt with. There's actually a chance at accountability without a union obstructing every attempt to improve behaviour. If you have somebody in charge who cares about improving the policing environment (and the appropriate political, judicial and public oversight), these seem to be very good things to me. edit: It deleted my last edit. Balls. https://www.nj.com/camden/2017/08/how_njs_most_dangerous_cit... |