The entire system is broken, but breaking it to remake it doesn't work too well. Creating an alternative system first, is the best course.
The biggest problem is the difference between the working class and the criminal class. A police officer can destroy a working person's life, in a heartbeat without even thinking.
If you worked in a bank, getting arrested for anything means you will never work in a bank again. And with all the corporate jobs doing background checks, your chances of getting hired drop precipitously. Thus, a good person's life is destroyed at almost the first step of interacting with a cop.
If you are of the thug class, there is nothing a police officer can do to you. Get arrested? Well, you get three hots and a cot. You will be back on the street in the same condition in relatively little time.
So, the police have way too much power for the working person, and way too little power for the thug. It is a balance that doesn't work.
To fix problems with policing we need to adopt completely new tactics in law.
- Laws should be passed by 90% of congress. Which means that all laws most people agree are laws before they are even written down. i.e. Murder
- Laws then need to be passed by a high percentage of the police force. If they do not want to enforce it, it should not be a law.
- Laws should be written for the lay men. They should be less than a page, in english, and the entirety of the law should be no bigger than the bible. (of course, the fine print, and loop hole closing will be elsewhere.)
- Laws should also be so few that they should also have to pass popular vote of the people. So, one or two every election.
The next problem that needs to be addressed is that people have the right to defend themselves.
All the way from school yard bullies to a thug breaking into your house, it is now a criminal act to defend yourself. This has to change.
And further, things like cell 411 is a much better way to handle almost any event that happens in your neighborhood. People that you know, show up to diffuse situations. Often just by showing that they know the thug is there, and are prepared to defend themselves.
Lastly, we actually need to have jobs for everyone. Not really in a getting paid for making/selling stuff, but in a way that everyone in the community helps and contributes to the community, and all get at least the minimum food, shelter and clothing. Its very doable, but we will have to turn our current monetary system on its side.