Reform the NYPD? Read Machiavelli!

In any middle school social studies class you learn the basics of how American government works -- the three branches with their checks and balances, how a bill becomes law, the Constitution, all that good stuff.

The reality of American government, of course, is much different than what you read about in textbooks or learn about in childhood classrooms.  

And while we care immensely about what the US President does, and even somewhat Congress does, and even more these days about what the Supreme Court does, the reality is that, in our Federalized system, so much of the direct power over our lives comes from the state and local governments -- they can pass laws that decide how we live, and if we literally live or die at all. 

These days, across the country, a lot of this comes down to the radically different laws that different states have regarding abortion, guns, healthcare, and the death penalty. Closer to home, in every major municipality in the country, it comes down to the cops.

And in NYC, the New York Police Department is, essentially, an unelected, unaccountable government of its own. 

The NYPD is a huge, powerful, and deeply feared organization. Ostensibly it operates under the thumb of elected officials -- the mayor appoints the police commissioner and the city council provides oversight of its operations. But the reality is that the department largely runs itself, and any attempts to oversee and reform it are nearly impossible.

This lengthy article documents the numerous failures of police reform -- trying to make the oversight process more vigorous, curbing the cops tendency towards violence and unjust arrests of the vulnerable and mentally ill, creating more transparency about disciplinary records, etc.

The main reason is, as you might imagine, politics -- any attempt to reform or hold to the NYPD accountable for any abuses or failures gets the politicians who try to do it attacked in the media and by fellow politicians and police unions as "anti-cop, pro-criminal, pro-violence," etc. etc. etc. It's a miserable, lonely, and quixotic battle. Also, a lot of politicians, even those who say they are "pro-cops", don't really understand the complexities of policing and how the vast NYPD operates. So nothing really changes -- except for the department's budget constantly getting increased, no matter if crime goes up or down, no matter if its officers are abusing or killing people, no matter its performance, no matter what. The NYPD, along with its powerful unions and political allies, has made itself virtually unreformable, unaccountable, and unrepentant. 

And it will probably never change until, as the article points out, politicians become afraid not to reform it. Don't hold your breath. Which leads us to that Renaissance Florentine genius Machiavelli who said about the misery of political reform:

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”

Preach.