BAG O’ CRAP: THE NEW LOOK IN COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING

The Blue Guardians and Mind Control: New police training techniques are here

By Richard Krupp, PhD

PACOVILLA Corrections blog
August 11, 2015

A couple of articles recently in the Wall Street Journal regarding “new” innovative policing techniques caught my attention.

They seem to treat criminal behavior as some sort of “disorder.” Certainly a disorder can be treated.

I don’t know what thought process is involved in the acceptance of these techniques.

There must have been studies. What did they learn?

Personally I find both of these trends very troubling but you be the judge.

New Police Training Philosophy Gets Mixed Reception

RICHMOND, Calif.—At a police training session here in late May, Scott Flanagan, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, was telling a room of officers that even warriors learned they sometimes had to be peacekeepers.

…training programs like the one taught by Mr. Flanagan, originally designed for soldiers in combat zones, are starting to become more popular as police departments around the country seek to defuse conflicts before they end in violence.

When his fellow instructor, former police officer Jonathan Wender, told the room that Officer Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson last August started a national discussion over why “bad” shootings, as Dr. Wender called them, were occurring, some officers bristled.

“Why are you saying it’s unjustified?” said one. “If people comply with the law, situations like this don’t happen” said another.

The recommendations seek to teach police that they are guardians of communities, a change from years of training that has in large part taught police to be warriors. So-called soft skills have gotten less attention.

Another new approach to police training is Blue Courage. Endorsed by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Training and Standards, it focuses equally on communication and physical skills and what it calls “the heart and mind of the guardian.” Departments in Arizona and Nebraska are using Blue Courage, along with the New York Police Department. (for full story read http://tinyurl.com/oyus4rv.)

Perhaps Blue Courage and Guardian of the Community sounds impressive to progressives. I think law enforcement officers already utilize communication skills and they also complete various training programs regarding community-based policing.

Maybe there are some super powers or special underwear and magically-imbued equipment which can be provided for law enforcement personnel upon completion of Blue Courage and Community Guardian training programs. Certainly super powers will help deal with violent criminals; no need for weapons—just good conversation. Treatment will do the trick.

It seems to me what may have been overlooked in the police training conducted in Richmond was the legitimate observation made by police officers stating that if people obeyed the law they could avoid problems with the police. What a novel idea for today’s press-frenzied anti-police sentiment!

Now that we can look forward to being protected by the Blue Guardians with their super powers. Maybe they can manage the criminal through the power of mind control. With the police having most crime under control we can move on to the FBI and potential terrorists.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran this story:

FBI to Seek Counseling, Not Handcuffs, for Some Islamic State Suspects

Faced with a wave of potential homegrown Islamic State supporters, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is embarking on a new approach with some suspects: putting them in counseling rather than handcuffs.

Proponents of the intervention model say it provides a possible “off ramp” from radicalization and addresses a hard truth: The FBI cannot effectively investigate all of the thousands of Americans who are believed to be interested in Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

In Dearborn, an intervention case typically starts when authorities, often local police, are tipped about a person’s behavior that worries family, friends or acquaintances.

“We can refer it to a school counselor, where appropriate, clergy, a psychiatric ward, and part of the intervention on the part of the police is to thoroughly research—not investigate but research—to make sure there are no weapons, no previous assaultive behavior,’’ Mr. Haddad said.

The approach is increasingly embraced by the Obama administration as part of a broader initiative federal officials call countering violent extremism, or CVE—which focuses on countering terrorist propaganda and spotting problematic behavior early.

Some of those officials worry that if someone referred for counseling ends up killing people, the FBI would be pilloried for treating the person with kid gloves. Others have raised questions about legal liability, and whether the government should have a formal, written mechanism for telling doctors, teachers or others that they won’t be held responsible if someone turns violent. (for full story read http://tinyurl.com/p6jxbvl.)

It sounds as if the FBI is going use some sort of mind reading superpower to find the potential terrorists, then someone will exert mind control powers to alter the faulty thinking processes of the potential terrorists.

Where can you get these super powers? What other powers are available from the federal government outside of our Constitution? The White House has been experimenting regularly with that exercise.

Maybe the police forces should be renamed? How about the Blue Attuned Guardians (BAG) of the Community Response Assessment Patrol (CRAP)?

Why not? President Obama has plenty of experience as a community organizer! BAG O’ CRAP sounds like a perfect name for the new look in community-based policing. This is the hope and change we’ve all been waiting for.

Maybe a mask and cape instead of the current uniforms? Can we treat the criminal “disorder” with a hands-on, as-it-is-happening approach?

How do the criminals feel about all of this new super power stuff? I have a feeling they are snickering.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bag o’ crap is right. Sweet talking criminals into compliance may work in some instances, but it won’t in most cases and could even result in an officer getting injured or killed. Taking a suspected terrorist in for counseling? How do they come up with these harebrained ideas? Someone’s been smoking too much pot.