A great part of our criminal justice system is the concept of deterrence. We try to prevent crime by convincing potential criminals that it is more likely they will be caught and punished than it is that they will benefit from the crime. The three basic factors in deterring crime are certainty, severity and speedy enforcement of the law, in about that order.. Law enforcement and judicial remedies are important to crime prevention; however, community involvement is another key factor, as is municipal infrastructure and support. A police chief serves not just to lead the police but also as a liaison between the department, city government, public and press. In those functions a good chief can effect great changes throughout the entire city.
One of the themes that I would like to make a part of my vision for the department is community involvement so that the stakeholders in the community become partners with the officers. Neighborhood watch programs, enforcing anti-noise laws housing, health and fire codes, and anti-nuisance laws are all effective ways of reducing crime before it starts. Cleaning up the streets means just that, abandoned cars and buildings provide shelters for crime. Litter and broken streetlights are visible evidence that no one cares for the neighborhood. Police officers are out there on the street every day, the first line of defense against crime, they should also be the first officers people turn to with a problem. If a broken street light or abandoned car makes their job harder, they should know where to go to get it towed or fixed. If a neighbor suspects drug activity in an abandoned building they should feel free to report it to the local police, and the police should have the means to give notice to the appropriate city department to get the problem taken care of. Preventing crime is much better than catching criminals. Police officers who serve as a catalyst between the city government and the citizens are more effective at this.
Another area for improvement is in the training for police officers concerning increasing their people skills without sacrificing the performance and discipline they have already mastered. . One of the basic tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 is the general assumption that government can only exist with the consent of the governed. Knowing this, the officers can assume most of the folks out there are just as interested as they are in stopping lawbreakers. However, if the officers are brutal, abusive and prejudiced they are acting in violation of the law instead of enforcing it, and no reasonable person is going to accept that kind of governance. Policing a neighborhood becomes harder, if not impossible, when the community unites against the police force.
A task that I would set for myself is to personally review all the department process to make sure none of them contained discriminatory procedures. This exhausting task will not be accomplished in a day, a week, or even a month. There are resources out there to help me however. The Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington has an online guide to Police and Law Enforcement Services Policy and Procedure Manuals that includes general information, sample manuals and guidelines for individual policies. The benefits from this go further than just setting policies down on paper, it could also open up discussion about change within the department. Knowing the former police chief felt free to verbally and publicly express a discriminatory mind set it is likely that these same thought patterns are reflected through out the department policies. I would take on the task of systematically eradicating and replacing it with inclusive, non-prejudicial language and policies. As I proceeded with this task, I would post and share the changes I was making. This would have a twofold benefit. It would give immediate notice to the officers that positive changes were ongoing, and it would give them an opportunity to present feedback before the change became fully established. After all, what seems logical to a criminal law researcher in a service center in Washington might just not play out well on the streets, and no one is going to recognize that more than one of my officers who is out there every day trying to make things work.
Finally, I would set in place a method to reward those officers whose performance showed they understood and accepted the higher standard for performance. Not all these changes are going to be easy, in fact most of them will not be. They will take a great deal of effort, training and even more difficult retraining. It is much harder to break a bad habit than it is to learn a new skill. It is obvious that these officers have been disciplined under “toxic” circumstances and will need steady ongoing support to make the deep changes in the way they think in order to function at their best. The best way to effect a change is with a definite goal in mind and generous positive support along the way. Now this can start with liberal doses of “Good Job!” when appropriate. Going to bat for them with the City Works Department to make sure abandoned vehicles are towed is another. In fact coordinating with all the city departments will make life easier. Having the Housing Authority enforce the codes relating to securing and maintaining abandoned proprieties not only limits their use by prospective criminals, it also helps the Fire Department prevent fire in those same structures. Most police department budgets allow for education based pay increases, and I would see to it that any officer of mine who completes additional training gets every penny that I could squeeze out. Lastly, since the department has had negative press lately I would make sure a press release was sent out every time we received positive community feedback. and I would post it conspicuously in the station as well. I would personally investigate any complaints as well and try to immediately mitigate any citizen misunderstanding or ill feelings.
I am sitting there in that hotel room, watching the news on the television because I would relish the opportunity to take a disciplined and highly trained police department and bring it to the next level. It is obvious that the police officers who serve in that department are individuals who respond to leadership. They have had the wrong leadership, this has created problems for them, and for the community they serve. I could give them appropriate guidance and training opportunites so that these offices could become an integrated part of their community. I view creating these changes as an ethical decision for me. I feel strongly that it is everyone’s duty to work for justice and given the opportunity, I feel morally obligated to help develop a greater partnership between law enforcement and the community. By being an effective police chief I would serve justice by leading my police department and serving as a catalyst between them and city government, public and press.
References
Just Give, Inc. (2007). 35 Ways to Prevent Crime & Violence. Retrieved 2 10, 2011, from Just Give : https://www.justgive.org/ways/preventcrime.jsp
Law Enforcement Training Center. (n.d.). Office of State and Local Training. Retrieved 2 10, 2012, from Federal Department of Homeland Security: http://www.fletc.gov/osl
Municipal Research and Services Center ow Washington. (2010, 9). Police and Law Enforcement Services Policy and Procedure Manuals. Retrieved 2 10, 2012, from Municipal Research and Services Center ow Washington: http://www.mrsc.org/subjects/pubsafe/le/le-manual.aspx
Paternoster, R. (2010). How much do we really know about criminal deterrence? Retrieved 2 10, 2012, from The Free Library by Farlex: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/How+much+do+we+really+know+about+criminal+deterrence%3f-a0247971640
