A proposal

The following is a more articulated version of something I have been saying for months…and it should be stated up front, that I am both a Conservative and a believer in the positive potential of capitalism…so it is unlikely that anyone on the left will view any of this in a positive light.  

Please feel free to tell me why this would not be something that could help in the current situation.

The grand jury has yet to render a verdict, and neither side is taking a victory lap…yet.

This would be an excellent time for the President to step in and use the position of President for something truly beneficial.

The shooting in Ferguson has exposed major problems in our system.  In many places in our country, police are not trusted, and police officers are likely not feeling as though the system provides them with much protection either.

My first reaction when I heard the story was that hopefully the dashboard or body camera would confirm what really happened, that there would be no ambiguity in the case…but alas, no dash cam or body cam.  

When I read that story the first time, my immediate thought was that it was ridiculous that it costs that much to equip police cars and officers with cameras.  While I understand some of the arguments made by police officers about their privacy, I think the time has come to realize that a camera, when it catches you doing the right thing, might be the greatest device ever invented.

Cameras will not eliminate assaults on officers nor eliminate all cases of police brutality, but they will bring clarity. Anyone who is honest knows that the simple presence of a camera changes how people act.  If you know that camera is rolling, you are likely to alter your behavior if it is going to make you look bad. 

The challenge now is that the officer, suspect, and witnesses all have a very limited view of what is happening in an armed confrontation (if either the officer or the suspect is armed, it is an armed confrontation), the gun sees nothing, and the bullet, once it is fired from a gun will travel in a very specific, and very predictable path because of the laws of physics. 

$3000+ for a dash/body cam is ridiculous, a simple GoPro, is capable of gathering an incredible amount of information…but what is needed is a more affordable, and task ready set of cameras, capable of capturing usable, and reliable evidence.  The cameras would need to be durable, reliable, protected against accidental or intentional shutdown in a moment when the images are going to be needed (obviously, there will need to be times when it can be shut down…bathroom breaks, meals, phone calls with the wife…there would be more, which I think could be inferred by common sense, but would likely need to be articulated), protected against accidental or intentional erasure, night vision capable,and…this is essential, must not allow editing after a confrontation, etc.

If you were pitching a business plan in my class, I would ask you at this point…”okay, you have identified a problem…and have sketched out the beginnings of what needs to be done…but HOW would you make it happen?”  

This is where the President comes in…Michael Brown was shot on August 9, 2014…on May 28, 2014, Dr. Dre sold Beats to Apple for billions. (Good for him, by the way, wish I had come up with something like that…I know, you are probably asking, how do these things belong together?) 

  What if the President called Dr. Dre and suggested the following…If you would start a company, in Ferguson, Missouri that would do for dash/body cams what you did for headphones, we will exempt that business from any corporate tax for the next 25 years (I might argue even more years)… All but the most common sense EPA regulations will be suspended to allow the company to be completed quickly. Patent protection will be enforced to ensure the company has a legitimate chance of competing in the market (no guarantees of government purchases, but a chance to fairly compete)   My guess is that Governor Nixon would match that offer immediately.

Obvious requirements would be that hiring preference would be given to local residents in your manufacturing plant, and a portion of the money that would have gone to taxation will instead be invested into infrastructure in Ferguson. (I might even suggest that the name of the company might be Ferguson Justice Cams…although DreCams does have a certain ring)

Why Dr. Dre? It would be great if he could team up with someone in law enforcement to do this project, that would be worthy of a Hollywood movie…but movies are fantasy…anyone in law enforcement who has financial clout like Dre is going to be distrusted automatically.  

Strangely, I cannot think of anyone who would have the trust of both the left/right, black/white communities more.  He is a brilliant businessman, and because of who he is, it would be assumed (correctly, I believe) that a move like this would be as much, maybe more, about preventing violence as making money. 

It would cost taxpayers nothing to float this idea, and it could improve the economic condition of Ferguson. Those workers, once employed in the company would pay taxes to continue the improvement of the city.

For the Brown family, this might provide some sense that this tragedy might have some positive impact.  For the officer, some solace that his brother officers will not have to endure such extended scrutiny.

There would likely be some unintended consequences of this all occurring. Someone will complain that the President is wrong to make offers of tax breaks for a billionaire, there will be occasional failures of the system…some will be offended that a solution came from a capitalist, or that Dre was a rapper,or for any of number of reasons.  The President’s answer…which would be more powerful if it were given with Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, etc all standing and nodding in approval as the deal is announced, should be “Tough, it is done.”

The irony that Dr. Dre, who burst into many of our minds with “Straight Outta Compton” could play a pivotal role in reducing violence, and bringing justice (not vengeance, but justice) to both side involved in such confrontation, would make the move even more powerful.