This week’s “Thankful Thursday” would like to highlight the efforts of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, Los Angeles Police Protective League, and the San Jose Police Officers Association who unveiled a national police reform agenda intended to improve outcomes between officers and the community they serve. The agenda was announced nationally via print media and is outlined as follows:

“No words can convey our collective disgust and sorrow for the murder of George Floyd. We have an obligation as a profession and as human beings to express our sorrow by taking action.”

Let’s begin with:

1.  A national use-of-force standard that emphasizes a reverence for life, de-escalation, a duty to intercede, proportional responses to dangerous incidents and strong accountability provisions mirrored after the Los Angeles Police Department.

2.  A national database of former police officers fired for gross misconduct that prevents other agencies from hiring them.

3.  An early warning system to identify officers that may need more training and mentoring modeled after the San Francisco Police Department.

4.  Ongoing and frequent training of police officers to build and refresh their skills to improve police and community outcomes similar to California’s SB230.

5.  Mandate a transparent publicly accessible use-of-force analysis website similar to the San Jose Police Department.