Ray Diamond, professor at the Louisiana State University Law Center, called for the revival of community policing as a means of producing safer inner cities at an April 19 lecture in the Eck Hall of Law.
In many cities, “crime has long passed from being a crisis into being a catastrophe,” Diamond said.
He stated that the high levels of crime chase away business, harm the youth and the elderly, and ensures a “culture of despair” for blacks that originated during the second half of the twentieth century.
Diamond, who received his JD from Yale University, identified brutality and inadequate protection from the police as the main factors that “paralyze” police-community relations in the inner cities. They lead to the estrangement and distrust that exist between the black community and police departments.
Diamond said that many in the black community think that police departments and the criminal justice system are indifferent to their problems and inadequately protect them.
Diamond claimed that proper exercise of the Second Amendment can contribute to safer inner cities through increased community participation in the common defense. He stated that the right to bear arms is an obligation of citizens to participate in the security both of oneself and the community. The Framers of the Constitution saw it as an important part of civic participation and virtue.
According to Diamond, a political and moral function is attached to the right to bear arms. Politically, citizens defend their liberties against government usurpation, and morally, they rely on themselves for their personal and communal defense.
Unfortunately, Diamond said, people in today’s inner cities do not view the right to bear arms as the Framers did. The value of an armed citizenry is not as cherished today, particularly given the professionalization of police and military personnel.
The result, he said, is that the police and professional criminals wield the real power in the major cities and the community does not protect itself.
The police suffer from two major experiences they face while on the job in urban areas. First, the horror of witnessing violent crimes creates the feeling of cynicism. Second, police are the targets of criminals, which instills a sense of danger and fear.
The conditions they experience on the job and the culture of the police force reinforce negative stereotypes about black people, Diamond said.
The community, on the other hand, views the police as unwilling or unable to make their lives safer. They see the police as “uncaring occupiers,” Diamond said.
The community’s fear of the police means citizens are less likely to report crimes, which in turn renders the community less safe and widens the gap between the police and the black community.
To help solve the problems that plague police-community relations in the inner cities, Diamond called for the revival and modernization of the traditional republican value of community policing.
Such a resurgence, he said, would help instill courage and self-respect in the black community, make for more positive relations with police, and reduce rates of certain kinds of violent street crimes.
Diamond identified three major components of an overall program to revive community policing.
First, he advocated the use of auxiliary police programs, which are a modernized version of police training. Citizens who complete training would have the power of a police officer. Because the individual would be a member of the community, he could help the community and the police to better understand each other. Successfully implemented, auxiliary police programs would deter police misconduct.
Second, more citizens should serve as armed security guards to protect private property. The trained security guards would serve as community watchdogs, deter crime, and work at the direction of the police department.
Third, members of the community should own guns for their self-protection. The police would be involved in a firearms training program that would feature instruction on how safely to use firearms, learn self-defense skills, and use arms as a last resort. Such a training program would involve the police actively training and working with citizens.
“The defense of the community relies on all the members of that community, not just a few,” Diamond said. “The proper approach is not to truncate the Second Amendment, but to restore the well-regulated militia.”
Mickey Gardella is a sophomore political science major. Contact him at mgardell@nd.edu.
