A Race Proposal for President Trump

There is very that can be said, good or bad, that has not already been said about these ongoing protests, riots and lootings that are taking place at various spots around our nation. Without attempting to add that list, I would like to suggest three steps for our President to consider in his immediate future plan of response.

First…without fanfare and following the June 9 funeral of George Floyd, President Trump and Attorney General Barr should have a brief and succinct press conference.  Barr handles this type of challenge quite naturally; Trump not so much.  It should be made clear that there will NO questions.  It should be made clear that the proposed actions are in response to the circumstances in the Floyd case; acting as a lynch pin connecting prior police department deaths involving prisoners of color.  It should be made clear that the proposed actions are intended to serve as a close examination of a disturbing and reoccurring trend in police relations all across America.

President Trump should first acknowledge the terrible consequences claimed by the current unrest.  He should acknowledge the tragedy of a man dying in the fashion of George Floyd.  And while it is paramount for our police officers to have the support and resources necessary to perform their essential duties; this type of abuse by police officers has been occurring far too often and in far too many places.  Things must change if the ideal of equal justice for all is be maintained.

Secondly…President Trump turns the microphone over to AG Barr and steps well off to the side.  Our Attorney General must address the issues briefly and directly.  There are a small percentage of police officers nationwide that are bad apples; but they do exist.  It cannot be permissible in the future for any type of collegial blue wall to protect a police officer when they abuse their power.  And while working unceasingly towards a strong environment of law and order, there must be more transparency and depth to the public information released by our police departments.

Barr should then announce that he will select the most competent and well-suited black U.S. Attorney to work with him on impaneling a committee. Call it what you will, this committee will have a balanced group of men and women considering their fields of law enforcement, ethnicity, national region, and gender.  Keeping the group as small as possible but as large as necessary, they will draw candidates from a national pool of governors, mayors, district attorneys, and police departments.  This is NOT the committee for U.S. Senators or Representatives.  Nor is it the committee for agenda-driven groups and organizations.  This committee should be composed of those who are on the frontline of law enforcement in America and ready to get down to serious discussions about how to fix our problems.

Once the members are selected, the committee should travel to WDC and engage in one series of multi-day meetings, with no press admittance.  They will end their function with a list of changes, reforms, and innovations that might enhance our current system.  This group should spot the problem areas and come up with ideas to correct them. The group will determine for themselves how many days this event will cover.  Again, the group will operate under private rules with no leaks to the press.

Following the completion of the committee’s meetings, these men and women will return to their regular jobs with the understanding that they are not to comment on the contents of the meetings.  Instead, AG Barr and his Co-Chair, with no Presidential presence, will hold a press conference announcing the completion of the meetings and a general summary of the discussions.  They will pledge to study the contents with analysis and hard data.  They will conduct a serious consideration of these meetings by top-level and qualified DOJ personnel.

Thirdly...At a final press conference, AG Barr and his Co-Chair should both orally address and distribute a full report of the committee meetings, the detailed analysis that has been conducted on the material, and distribute a detailed printed report to the press.

They should at this point have a clear plan of action that will come out of this effort.  It should include changes in funding, regulations, and perhaps even new law that might be authored and sent to Congress for consideration.  As before, no questions should be entertained from the press prior to ending the press conference.

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If done properly, this course of action will confirm to the public that our government acknowledges that a problem exists.  It will demonstrate to the public that our government is willing to listen and seek out where the problems exist.  And it will most importantly signal to our public that real, tangible changes will be forthcoming that will make a sincere effort to address these problems.  With the integrity and judgmental record already exhibited by William Barr, I have no doubt that an effort of this nature would be huge step forward for law enforcement in the United States.  That is why following the initial press conference in this plan, the President does not show up, speak up, and certainly does not tweet about the plan.  AG Barr is much better suited to head up this effort.

This is the least our citizens can expect from Executive leadership.  It is not a fairy tale cure to existing race relations in America.  People understand that and frankly, do not ask for that.  That simply want to know our leaders realize that a problem exists and they are trying to do something about. Everyone wins for the right reasons.