In a republic it’s much much harder. People run on platforms but that doesn’t mean the rest of the legislators agree with them. Often people in HOAs can’t agree on things... and that’s the lowest form of government (well regulation).

If I owned a company and the people I hired to manage it were playing games like this, and if I asked them for insight into what, specifically, is happening behind the scenes, and they told me "it is literally not possible for us to provide you with that information" (and wouldn't say why it is not possible), I would be immediately launching a side project with the intent to replace the whole lot of them.

Yes, I realize "it's complex", but complexity is a continuum, not a binary.

With respect to the article, is it not true that the President has some substantial ability to float ideas into the public consciousness, that would put the heat on the state and municipal politicians to come up with some better systems to manage law enforcement and officer interactions with the public? And if the federal level truly has no power whatsoever in instituting reform or enforcing federal laws (what's the FBI do again?), I don't see why a comprehensive framework with recommendations for operational reform and greater transparency couldn't come from the top down. If there's nothing to be held accountable to, and no one to do the holding, I don't see why people are surprised when law enforcement restraint is largely left up to the goodwill of individual officers.

This whole situation and the way it is discussed seems rather absurd to me, but maybe there's something I'm not seeing.