How are you going to change the Police Department's antagonistic process,

if you don't first eliminate the public perceptions that drive it? It's easier to see how all the moving pieces work together when you study a small town culture.

In small towns you get the full picture. Length and width. Specifically, you can see how the white elite game the system, skirting the laws to enrich friends, family and business associates. No one will stop them. Not the FBI, the state attorneys office and especially not the police department. That's because their mission is generally defined by the status quo in the community. In other words, their salary is paid by the very same people who will wilt like a flower when they see a PoC walk down their streets.

So, in order to redefine the mission, you have to redefine the status quo.

Personally, I think "shadow government" is more appropriate. The fact that this backwater construct still exists today defies common sense because our American identity is founded on the concept of equality. In contrast, the status quo's purpose is to retain power, and resist change.

I can use a small town culture to demonstrate how they resist change. Keep in mind that the status quo is a socially constructed monster. It grows whenever its turf is threatened. It can pull in new members for the most inane of reasons. For example, if there is someone in the community who presents a challenge to their power, they will respond by pulling all the stops to watch that individual. That can mean increased police surveillance or it can mean contacting neighbors to ask for their assistance. Sometimes it might even involve asking for permission to use a driveway to station a car. (As a side note, when they are asking the gullible neighbor for this favor, they are not just asking for a favor, they are also forcing him to take a side.)

The purpose behind watching the house is not just an intimidation tactic, but also serves to observe who this person is socializing with to stop any political challenges before they begin.

Given this hostile environment I am asking you, how are you going to find allies, how are you going to grow a political movement when the entire system is set up to frustrate you before you even start?

So, do you see how we are all being stymied on both ends of this social experiment? In sum, the key to change is to change the demographics of the status quo. That's the only way to make our criminal justice system more egalitarian in their mission statements. We will get their faster together, with a strategy supported by the BLM and a push for economic equality.