In 2013, the city of Camden, New Jersey fired all of its police officers and rebuilt the department. Today it is considered a model in terms of police-community relations.

And there are calls from many corners of the country to do likewise, as the Black Lives Matter Movement, born in 2013, has been rekindled and has come to the streets of small-town America. Signs calling for us to Defund the Police are now a part of every rally, including this past Sunday in Walden. The killing of George Floyd in police custody shows how far the country has to go. Protests have pushed the Minneapolis City Council to that unimaginable brink. Minneapolis officials have vowed to dismantle their police department.

But do we really need to rip apart every police department in order to cure what has come to be seen as systemic racism and inequality? If we can accept the notion that the vast majority of men and women who work in law enforcement are decent people who will do the right thing, then the answer is no, but some work always needs to be done.

Thankfully the demonstrations in our region have been peaceful and respectful, while participants were able to get their point across. Legislation aimed at banning choke holds and in unlocking records of complaints against individual police officers are two examples.

There are ways to improve police relations without dismantling things. In large cities, budget funds are being re-directed from the police department to social services. In smaller cities that don’t have the luxury of large budgets to begin with, other measures are being taken. Orange County, for example, just last week announced that it would offer funding to local agencies for anti-bias training and body-worn cameras. Expanded foot patrols, the presence of D.A.R.E. officers in classrooms and more neighborhood police units can also work to build trust between the police and the people they are sworn to protect.

Another way to improve relations with minority communities is through recruiting. In a perfect world, a police department should be as diverse as the population it serves. Perhaps scholarships to qualified students interested in a career in law enforcement would help. And giving these new recruits the same opportunities to rise up through the ranks can further inspire and influence the very young people who are now often at odds with authority.

Images of Camden Police Officers playing basketball with young children and their police chief raising his fist in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters show the new face of policing in that city. They remind us of what’s good about police work, and what can be accomplished when we put our minds to work.