The current avalanche of proposals for police reform, in the wake of tragic deaths of civilians, often racial minorities, at the hands of law enforcement officers got me thinking back to a proposal that I devised during the Vietnam War (1955-75).

Back then, I represented many conscientious objectors – those who refused induction into the military (at that time there was military conscription, or “the draft”) on a ground not recognized as supporting an exemption from service, ordinarily granted only to religiously-based conscientious objectors. That exemption was later broadened, but it never covered mere political objections to a particular war. Those refusing induction without a qualifying exemption were indicted.

When it came time for sentencing, most federal judges were hesitant to incarcerate these men. I, and other defense lawyers, kept many of our clients out of prison by proposing to judges that, in lieu of military service, and instead of incarceration, our clients be sentenced to “civilian alternative service.” Judges by and large were relieved to have an avenue to avoid imprisoning obviously non-criminal young citizens.

Most of those sentenced to civilian alternative service worked as hospital orderlies or as assistants in old age homes. However, in a few instances I made a different suggestion: I proposed that my clients be sentenced to serving in their local police departments, helping the officers do their job. Sometimes my clients expressed a preference for office work at the station, while others preferred “walking the beat” with an officer, or riding in the passenger seat of a patrol car.

This unexpected injection of a civilian presence into routine policing had an interesting effect: There were no reports of which I became aware of any incidents of police brutality. This was hardly surprising, since even the worst cop would likely hesitate to beat-up someone in front of a witness placed there by order of a federal judge.

This experience suggests a possible solution to, or at least amelioration of, the seemingly intractable problem of police brutality. Local and state governments should pay for “police assistants” — young men and women, perhaps recent college graduates thinking of a career in law or law enforcement – who want a taste of what the profession really is like. The assistants would gain education-via-experience; the police would gain assistance that would be useful especially when departments are short-staffed; the municipalities would beef up their police departments at little cost; and citizens and others would be less subject to brutality.

This is what I would judge to be what we call a win-win situation.

Harvey Silverglate is a criminal defense and civil liberties lawyer with offices in Cambridge and Boston