There are lots and lots of things deserving of the descriptive phrase "vile and pernicious," but -- for this week, at least -- this one takes the cake.
The DoJ and FBI need to go full bore on this shit:
1. Investigations on all reports of prisoner abuse by corrections personnel, arrests and indictments made where supported by evidence. If more money is needed to hire qualified personnel to complete this task, ALLOCATE IT.
2. Any laws allowing Homeland Security to pass on military-grade weapons and-or equipment must be rescinded and all such items removed from any police agency which currently has them. Agencies may then request items be re-provided but NOT be automatically certain of getting them. Justification for such items must be supported by thorough documentation of need.
3. All job requirements for corrections personnel on ALL levels must be reviewed and revised to higher standards, to include higher pay for corrections officers and staff, EXCEPT for the administrators. Lack of equity between corrections and administrative staffs' incomes must be resolved. Better pay attracts better-qualified candidates. ABSOLUTELY NO POLICE ACADEMY WASHOUTS OR REJECTS.
4. For every person convicted and sentenced to serve time for crimes committed while working as corrections personnel, one person convicted for a non-violent crime must be released, starting with those who've been incarcerated the longest.
5. State laws concerning drug possession and use must be overhauled, to reduce the number of persons incarcerated for non-violent crimes.
That's just for starters, of course.
The Dept. of Homeland Security is a dangerous and unnecessary federal agency. It holds far too much power under one umbrella. Cooperation between agencies can be achieved by other means without centralizing so much legal and political power in one department. I've held this opinion ever since I first heard of this department's creation nearly 14 years ago.
The more we give away our freedoms for a little more "security," the less free we become.
