Police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck, leading to Floyd's death. Taken by onlooker with a mobile phone. Photo: wikipedia.org hat happened to George Floyd is totally unacceptable to most Filipino-Americans. Needless to say many Pinoys living in the United States have experienced first-hand the arrogance and heavy-handedness of "America's finest." While it is unfair to paint all police officers with the same broad brush, law enforcement seems to attract more than its share of arrogant, self-righteous individuals. These cops walk around with a chip on their shoulder, believing they are doing the "righteous" and essential work of law enforcement and ordinary citizens had better know who they're dealing with or get hauled to jail. Because they enforce the law, many jump to the conclusion that they are above the law. Finally, ordinary Americans are waking up to the fact that instead of being there to fix a problem, law enforcement has become the problem. Thus, things have to change. There has to be a better way. Two decades into this new millennium, the anachronistic, medieval methods used to keep the peace need to be updated. Many demonstrators are calling for defunding police departments. That might be a start. Communities might be better off if more dollars were spent on schools, public services, and healthcare, instead of buying police shiny new riot gear, or weapons to inflict more pain and suffering on unarmed civilians. However, one thing for sure is that focusing on law enforcement alone will not solve the problem. The problem is a societal problem and needs to be addressed as such. America, it seems, is becoming a more violent society: increasingly arrogant, intolerant, and uncivil. From movies, video games, and TV shows, Americans are taught that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and only the strong survive—regardless of whether they are right or wrong. Fixing law enforcement is a step in the right direction, but we will need to start changing society as well. More enlightened policing has a better chance of success if it occurs within a more enlightened community. Published 6/10/2020