Police Reform: Supporting Good Officers, Rooting Out Bad Actors

I believe in a balanced approach to police reform that improves training, increases accountability, and supports officers who serve with integrity. To foster meaningful change, we must both invest in law enforcement and hold individuals accountable when they abuse their power.

Police Reform Proposals:

Incentivizing Professional Development:

Implement a financial incentive program for individual officers to pursue additional training and specializations.

Increase funding for de-escalation and crisis intervention training, enabling officers to develop skills that lead to safer outcomes for both officers and the public.

Provide higher pay for officers who complete advanced training programs, rewarding those who invest in their professional growth and community safety.

By allowing officers to choose their training paths, we can foster a more diverse and skilled law enforcement workforce, with expertise in areas such as mental health response, mediation, and community engagement.

Accountability for Problematic Officers:

I support measures such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would create a national database to track officers with records of misconduct. This prevents problematic officers from being rehired in different jurisdictions after abusing their authority.

Strengthen oversight mechanisms to ensure officers who engage in harassment or misconduct can no longer use their position to harm law-abiding citizens.

Reforming Qualified Immunity:

Instead of ending qualified immunity entirely, I support curtailing its scope to ensure that officers are held accountable when they violate constitutional rights. Reforms should strike a balance—protecting officers who make good-faith decisions while ensuring there is a legal pathway for justice in cases of misconduct.

By supporting police officers who strive to do their jobs well and ensuring accountability for those who abuse their authority, we can build a law enforcement system that earns the public’s trust. Reform isn’t about weakening the police—it’s about strengthening the profession and making communities safer for everyone.

Through financial incentives, targeted training, and meaningful accountability measures, we can foster a culture of excellence in law enforcement that reflects the values of justice, fairness, and respect.