Zero tolerance for bad policing

Zero tolerance is the catchphrase of the day, in Sweden as in the rest of Europe. But like everything else, it comes from the States. The best known example is the way the NYPD works: all crimes must be prosecuted, small ones as well as big ones. And, not unexpectedly, they discovered that criminals commit both small and big crimes, and if you catch someone for a smaller offence, he might turn out to be a really ugly fish. But a problem arises when it is seen that black men are being checked out much more often than white, and in some cases even shot to death – in spite of the fact that they are unarmed, and hadn’t committed any crime. Until now, the policemen have gone free.
Something else that is not so often realised, is that zero tolerance should also hold for bad leadership within the police. In New York, once a week, all police superintendents have to take account for the crime statistics in their precinct. That approach seems just as good a one to import as zero tolerance for criminals.