WE WILL: evaluate and reform institutions that fail to meet their mandates.
Often the failure of an institution is not the result of an inability to successfully carry out the task assigned but, instead, leadership’s inability to define the correct task. Given law enforcement is the target of much debate at the moment, let’s use policing to illustrate the point. Since the terror attacks of 9/11 and the dawning of a prolific number of mass shootings, national leadership began calling for and funding the militarization of police departments to “protect” the public. In consequence, police departments became hyper focused on neutralizing subjects by
whatever means necessary, and for many years they were applauded for doing so. As a result, the use of department resources and an officer’s command and execution of brutal or lethal tactics has begun to flourish. As local communities are now being confronted with the effect of the poor policies established largely through national leadership over the last 20 years, it is vital that society identify correctly where the policy failed.