Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol
Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Twenty-One
Zero-Based Law Enforcement involves a variety of principles. Key ones include the following:
Proactivity is one of several philosophical aspects of Zero-Based Law Enforcement. The concept is that instead of waiting for criminal activity to occur, law enforcement officers strive to minimize the likelihood of criminal activity before it happens.
Law enforcement officers would utilize Problem Solving through Zero-Based Law Enforcement. The goal – as the name implies – is to solve a specific problem. This could involve a criminal act, steps being taken to avoid a future criminal act, or have nothing to do with an actual crime.
Disputes between family members, neighbors, friends, and strangers can devolve into situations where law enforcement officers may need to get involved. While situations that involve violence or attempted violence typically involve law enforcement officers taking direct actions – arrests, for example – situations that don't involve violence or attempted violence don't necessarily require law enforcement officers to take actions like arrests.
Instead, law enforcement officers following the percepts of Zero-Based Law Enforcement would take actions that help to mediate and resolve disputes.
Law enforcement officers would strive to separate the parties, listen to each person, and then offer some suggestions on how to resolve the immediate issues and ways that problems that cannot be solved immediately could be resolved in the future.
Law enforcement entities that follow the principles of Zero-Based Law Enforcement would take actions that help to mitigate circumstances that involve individuals with mental health challenges.
Third-party mental health services would be utilized as backup services in extreme circumstances, but the concept of Zero-Based Law Enforcement would be to have a workforce of mental health professionals that would be of sufficient size to meet routine needs within the specific community.
Surprise inspections are one of the techniques that law enforcement entities would utilize to enhance public safety through Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Rather than scheduling inspections in advance, surprise inspections would likely provide law enforcement officers with more real-world experiences.
Please note that law enforcement officers working through Zero-Based Law Enforcement do not need to carry weapons. School crossing guards and parking enforcement officers, for example, are parts of law enforcement entities in various areas of the country and, typically, do not carry weapons.
Through Zero-Based Law Enforcement, surprise inspections would include ones focused on transportation, entities with regulated consumer products, centers and shelters for people, centers and shelters for animals, consumer-facing businesses, entities that handle chemicals, road signage and signals, governmental facilities, and law enforcement officers themselves.
Zero-Based Law Enforcement calls for the inclusion of proactive steps to enhance traffic safety. These measures would include setting a priority structure of what items and what areas to focus attention. With that priority structure in place, specific techniques would be determined as to which would be best for enforcement to enhance safety, including such items as inspection of traffic lines-of-sight, changing traffic signalization timing for motor vehicles, and changing pedestrian signalization timing.
Setting a priority structure of what items and what areas to focus attention is critical in Zero-Based Enforcement. These prioritization efforts would include determining the areas where traffic incidents cause fatalities, injuries, and property damage. The specific areas would be ranked with the levels of each of the activities ranked from highest to lowest as priorities.
With that prioritization in place, traffic enforcement techniques would focus on the highest priorities of fatalities first, then the highest priorities of injuries, and then the highest priorities where property damage occurs.
One of the ways that law enforcement entities would enhance public safety would be to implement routine enforcement of regulations affecting pedestrian-related infrastructure and related environmental factors through Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Instead of responding to complaints or waiting for a minor difficulty to develop into a larger problem, law enforcement officers would preemptively verify that pedestrian-related infrastructure is in good shape and related environmental factors are appropriate for the circumstances.
Through Zero-Based Law Enforcement, each establishment that sells alcohol products to be consumed on its premises would be required to have a section within the establishment where no alcohol products are offered and where no alcohol products can be consumed. Instead, water, coffee, soft drinks, and other similar beverages would be offered for sale in that section of each establishment.
Each establishment that sells alcohol products to be consumed on its premises would also be required to offer a breathalyzer test to each potential customer prior to them entering the premises. Those who refuse a breathalyzer test would be denied entry to the establishment.
An individual who takes a breathalyzer test that indicates a blood alcohol content above a certain level would be denied entry to the section of the establishment where alcohol products are consumed and, instead, would be offered entry to a section of the establishment where water, coffee, soft drinks, and other similar beverages are offered for sale. If an individual declines that offer, the individual would be denied entry to the establishment.
Law enforcement entities would be alerted that an individual has been denied entry if a breathalyzer test indicated a blood alcohol content above a certain level.
The concept of Zero-Based Law Enforcement is to have law enforcement officers only issue tickets and arrest people for the specific criminal acts that truly took place.
Not to pad a traffic stop with multiple tickets. Not to arrest a person on multiple charges for the same criminal activity. Not to generate funds for the operations of a law enforcement entity or its governing body.
This does not mean that multiple tickets or multiple arrest charges are, by themselves, to be avoided.
It does mean that the tickets issued and the arrest charges made are truly for separate, distinct criminal acts.
Detaining a person would not be the first choice for law enforcement officers.
Arresting a person would not be the first choice for law enforcement officers.
Using force – force of any kind – would not be the first choice for law enforcement officers.
Detainment, arrest, and force of any kind by law enforcement officers would only occur when necessary.
The standard operating procedure in place in many communities – where discretion is for a few, enforcement is for the rest – would no longer exist.
Zero-Based Law Enforcement would require all to be treated with equal discretion by law enforcement officers.
Through Zero-Based Law Enforcement, law enforcement officers would have to tell the truth to all.
No lying by commission.
No lying by omission.
No protection if they lie.
Please note: Zero-Based Law Enforcement would still allow lying if a lie would be done in self-defense for law enforcement officers to protect themselves while in imminent danger and would still allow law enforcement officers to lie to protect third-parties in imminent danger.
These two narrow exceptions – and they should be considered narrow exceptions – would apply in situations where the aim is not to detain, investigate, arrest, or imprison an individual, but would apply in situations where a law enforcement officer is striving to protect life.
Zero-Based Law Enforcement would include law enforcement entities reviewing past decisions and previous actions of law enforcement officers. Where mistakes were made – whether the mistakes were done with no ill intent or were done with purposeful intent – those mistakes would be acknowledged.
In all cases, apologies for those mistakes would be issued.
Sincere apologies.
Apologies that go beyond words.
Where possible, those mistakes would be rectified.
Rectified with actions.
Such actions may be as modest as publicly stating that a person arrested for a specific crime was actually arrested in error. That the specific person was innocent of any criminal activity. That public apology would be made by the law enforcement entity involved and each individual law enforcement officer involved in the specific arrest made in error.
Zero-Based Law Enforcement would have as key components the need to apologize and strive to correct – to correct as much as possible – all consequences of investigations, detainments, and arrests made in error.
The incentive for law enforcement entities and law enforcement officers through Zero-Based Law Enforcement would be to minimize the likelihood of investigations, detainments, and arrests being made in error.
Through Zero-Based Law Enforcement, standards to become – and more importantly, to remain – a law enforcement officer would be raised.
Key aspects of these higher standards:
Individuals would need to be able to put aside their personal attitudes toward specific persons and specific groups of people as they engage in law enforcement duties by treating all with respect.
Individuals would need to have the temperament to be able to go from situation to situation and begin fresh in each.
Individuals would need to be able to take abuse – verbal abuse – without reaction.
Individuals would need to be able to show no favoritism to people regardless of position.
Individuals would need to know when it's necessary for them to take a break from the duties of the job.
Individuals would need to be able to take constructive criticism with grace.
Individuals would need to be able to take praise with humility.
Individuals would need to be physically able to perform their duties at the start of their career as well as throughout their career.
Individuals would need to be in good health at the start of their career as well as throughout their career.
Individuals who are currently law enforcement officers and do not meet these higher standards would not be eligible to remain as law enforcement officers in Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Individuals who are currently law enforcement officers and do meet these higher standards would be eligible to be considered as law enforcement officers in Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Individuals who are chosen as law enforcement officers in Zero-Based Law Enforcement would need to be able to identify and report other law enforcement officers who do not meet these higher standards.
Law enforcement entities would need to be able to offer supportive services through Zero-Based Law Enforcement to all law enforcement officers – those that strive to meet these higher standards as well as those that struggle to meet these higher standards – with the goal being to have all law enforcement officers meet these higher standards.
Community involvement would be a critical element of Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Through all of these types of situations – as well as the more routine law enforcement circumstances – law enforcement entities would provide decompression opportunities for law enforcement officers.
These would include activities that focus on the mental well-being of law enforcement officers as well as activities where law enforcement officers could do things that have nothing to do with law enforcement. For example, sharing a meal with their families and loved ones, planting flowers along a streambank, visiting a petting zoo with small animals, or participating in yoga.
The goal would be to bring some balance to the lives of law enforcement officers.
Together, these key components form the principles of Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
The next news column will begin a series focused on the implementation of Zero-Based Justice.
Peirspictiochtai Ar A Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.
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