Revise: IV.8 Police

Recommended by a vote of 9 to 3

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Summary

This is a rewrite of the plank with a different emphasis and structure. The first paragraph describes the role of police in a free society. The second paragraph explains what should happen when police violate rights belonging to the people. The last paragraph explains our views on the use of private security patrols.

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No person has any special right to make arrest greater than that of any other person. The government monopoly on police protection puts the power of violence in the hands of society's dominant groups, a practice which inevitably harms minority groups. We note with alarm the increasing numbers of individuals shot by police, as well as growing police harassment and brutality. We therefore call for decentralization of police protection to the neighborhood level whenever full privatization is not possible. We oppose the expansion of federal police forces anywhere, and particularly into California.

We oppose police officers using unnecessary force on the disorderly or the criminally accused or handing out what they may consider to be instant punishments on the streets. We further deny that police have such inherent authority. Instant-punishment policies deprive the accused of important checks on government power, juries and the judicial process.

Laws must ensure that peace officers are prosecuted if they violate people' rights, and if local prosecutors fail to indict, then the office of the state Attorney should investigate the incident.

The role of the police in a free society is to protect the rights of individuals to life, liberty, safety, and property; to assist in promoting peace and order by solving and prosecuting crimes, preventing crime, and reducing crime and the fear of crime.

Police must not violate rights belonging to the people and must be held accountable if they violate those rights. We oppose police officers using unnecessary force on the disorderly or the criminally accused or handing out what they may consider to be instant punishments on the streets. Laws must ensure that peace officers are prosecuted if they violate people's rights, and if local prosecutors fail to indict, the office of the State Attorney should investigate the incident.

In Oakland, Houston, and other communities people have hired private security patrols to perform some of the duties of the police. We support the use of private security patrols when desired by the people of a community