“There’s been a lot of talk about body cameras as a silver bullet or a solution,” President Obama said. “[B]ut it is not a panacea and it has to be embedded in a broader change of culture.”

I agree with the president. Here are three modest ideas to facilitate such change:

–Require every fatality at the hands of police to be reported to the federal government. It would include the name of the deceased and the law enforcement officials, the police report describing the encounter and the disposition of any legal proceedings. All in easily accessed public records.

–Don’t let police departments investigate themselves. Recently, two jurisdictions in Maryland—Montgomery County and Howard County—announced that they would investigate each other’s police shootings. “If the public is demanding greater independence and transparency, we’re obligated to give them that,” said Montgomery State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

–Improve police training. Chicago, despite its problems, has developed a new training strategy called “Procedural Justice and Legitimacy,” at the city’s police academy. It seems to be achieving results. So far this year, according to the department, officers have fired their guns 10 times, down from an average of 23 times during the same period the last three years.