I'm not fond of Tim Wise's manner of presentation (I'm sensitive to yelling), but his writing on your point, Mrr, spoke to me this AM:

(Paragraph breaks in the following Tim Wise quote mine.)

"The problem with police forces isn't that they're too white (after all, as James Baldwin noted long ago, some of the most feared cops in Harlem were black because they had something to prove).

"Rather, the problem is, they are not chosen by the community and not accountable to it.

"Anyone who is going to serve as a police officer in a community that is racially/economically marginalized should have to go through a probationary period, in which they spend 60-90 days meeting with the residents, going to their homes, churches, non-profits, schools, and getting to know them (and vice-versa). And then, at the end of the 60-90 days the community gets to decide whether or not they get the job, based on the community's feeling about their empathy/concern and willingness to respect the people there.

"This would benefit the community AND the cops.

"When people see you and have had coffee with you, a conversation, shown you pictures of their kids, etc., and you've begun to build relationships, not only will you see them as real people with real lives and value but they will also be more likely to see you as someone there to help rather than occupy their community. Or not, in which case, they'll block you from becoming a cop in their community in the first place.

"Community control is the key here. It won't stop all abuses of power, to be sure, but if cops had to do this, I guaran-damn-tee that most of the hardest core racists in the force would find different work rather than submit to this process, or else they would betray their ignorance and contempt for the people clearly enough to be kept from wearing the badge..."

(Thank you Denise)

I'm not sure this is workable on the level of patrol officers, but I sat on a search committee once for a police chief, and I can say without a doubt that the place of that search had JUST barely begun to open decisions up to a genuine cross section of that community-- and that as the lone low-income person, I was very aware I was alone AND could not hope to fairly represent the low income portion of the village's 40% Black.population, who were under-represented in a village with a longstanding plan around ensuring longterm integration and community relations. This was many years ago. But if a progressive place with Black leaders in government made decisions that way, how much less inclusive were (and are) other communities?

~S~