Orlando Mayor Dyer is reluctant to change police

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is preparing to slow walk, or minimize any significant changes to the way the city is policed.

Last week Dyer tweeted: “Orlando is committed to action. And as a community, we must continue to engage with each other to make change. That's why I'm joining @BarackObama and @MBK_Alliance to review our use of force policies, engage residents in the process and make any changes that must be made.”

Dyer clearly is pulling a sly political move by aligning himself with President Obama and My Brothers Keep Alliance – an Obama foundation.

But if Dyer attended Saturday’s (6/6) massive rally on the steps of Orlando City Hall, or if he cared what anybody had to say, he would know that changing the OPD use-of-force policy does not begin to address the protestors demands.

Demonstrators in Orlando and elsewhere around the nation are calling for sweeping changes to standard policing, which is an outgrowth of 19^th century slave patrols.

As it is Orlando’s police use-of-force policy is bad, especially for black people and poor people. The existing policy allows an officer to pepper spray someone who responded rudely to a question. To see the use of force policy, click here.

Many of the demonstrators were calling for defunding or dismantling the police. Minneapolis has already officially begun the process of reshaping its police services.

Though that sounds extreme, what the really means is re-imagining the way public safety services are provided, with less need for heavily armed officers.

Does it make sense for police officers dressed and armed like robocop to constantly patrol neighborhoods? Folks in some minority communities complain that they are over-policed by officers looking for the smallest infractions to make arrests or issue tickets.

The over-policing doesn’t make those neighborhoods safer. Instead, it creates hostility and sometimes leads to confrontations that can be deadly for officers and the public

The fire department doesn’t patrol neighborhoods looking for fires. They respond to calls for service. Firefighters are focused on safety and helping people, while police are focused on enforcement and locking up people. Cops are seen as warriors or an army of occupation.

For a domestic violence call, what if the police car the responded contained a police officer, a social worker, and an emergency medical technician? That would include all the services likely to be needed in that situation.

Typically, a police department gobbles up 30 percent or more of local government’s budget. A slimmed-down police department could be less expensive, more user friendly, and efficient.

Defunding a police department would mean reallocating some of the police dollars for education and social services that could help address the root causes of crime. For more information on defunding police, click here.

Mayor Dyer, however, has never demonstrated that he has an open mind. More likely than not he and his staff will tightly limit any citizen participation in discussions of police services and cozy up to the politically powerful police union.

Currently, local activists are promoting a petition to defund the police. If you want to add your name, click here.