Top Priority | Ideas for Human Flourishing

Police are meant to protect and serve by upholding public safety and human dignity. In ep003 of Top Priority you will learn more about the Stand Together Community’s positive vision for policing that builds trust and collaboration between the police and the communities they serve.

Show Notes

**Click here for a printable and clickable pdf download of the show notes from this episode.**

Show Details 

Show: 003 Top Priority Podcast | Policing & Criminal Justice Reform  
Date Recorded: May 20, 2020
Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy
Guests: Brianna Walden, Associate Director for Criminal Justice Reform, Stand Together

Show Notes & Timestamps
  • What are the five categories of Criminal Justice Reform? min [1:05]
  1. Overcriminalization – What are the laws on the books and how does the proliferation of laws over criminalizes the citizenry?  
  2. Policing – How are the laws being enforced in communities?
  3. Due Process – Are those being accused of a crime afforded their Constitutionally guaranteed rights?  
  4. Sentencing – Is the punishment proportional to the crime? 
  5. Prison and reentry – How to prioritize rehabilitation and allow the formerly incarcerated the best chance to be contributors in society? 
**Click here for a printable and clickable pdf download of the show notes from this episode.**
  • What is the entire portfolio of policing and over-policing? min [5:05] 
  • What are non-criminalizing alternatives to keeping communities safe? min [8:40] 
  • What is Civil Asset Forfeiture and Policing for Profit? min [10:41]
  • 3 things that erode trust and collaboration between the police and communities: min [19:02] 
  1. The number of laws on the books forces police to have to enforce bad laws, over criminalizes the citizenry, creates unnecessary points of contact between the police and community members, and diverts scarce justice system resources away from serious and violent crimes.  
  2. Perverse incentives like Civil Asset Forfeiture, arrest quotas, and qualified immunity. 
  3. A negative police culture such as a code of silence and intervention from police unions that stifles change,
  • How our Community views Policing through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [25:05]
  • How our Community views Policing through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [29:20]
  • How our Community views Policing through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [30:40]
  • How our Community views Policing through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [33:35]
**Additional Resource**
**Click here for a printable and clickable pdf download of the show notes from this episode.**

What is Top Priority | Ideas for Human Flourishing?

We have a deep belief in people and promote ideas of human flourishing.

Top Priority is a collection of interactive, learning-oriented conversations on how the Stand Together Community engages with and advocates for solutions through the lens of our Community Vision: We transform society by breaking the internal and external barriers that prevent people from realizing their potential, enabling all people to improve their lives and find fulfillment by helping others do the same.

The Stand Together Community Vision is guided by four, mutually reinforcing principles: Equal Rights | Mutual Benefit | Openness | Self-Actualization

Explore the free and civil society through the lens of each of these four mutually reinforcing principles and stand together to help every person rise.

Top Priority is a production of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Grassroots Leadership Academy, where we make Human Flourishing a top priority.