Three “I”s to Repairing the Police/Community Relationship
February 22, 2017
Over the years, the fragile relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve has been strained to the point of fracture. The goal now for law enforcement agencies is to repair existing relationships with the communities they serve and build new positive relationships with youths to ensure future community resilience.
Both the community and law enforcement must approach this process with the desire to purge themselves of any behaviors, practices, or policies that would hinder closing the divide between the two. Both must ask themselves what they are contributing to the success and to the failure of the relationship. By addressing the long-held cynicism that permeates the culture, law enforcement not only can pull back the “blue curtain,” but rip it down altogether to foster the transparency that communities crave and to help humanize law enforcement. This can also help reduce the negative stigma that communities sometimes associate with cooperating with the police – for example, the “stop snitching” mantra the criminal element may use to perpetuate crime and further imprison community members in their own neighborhoods. By making a conscious effort to build partnerships with law enforcement and educate themselves on policies and procedures, communities can ultimately dissipate the ambiguity that arises in controversial incidents. The community must navigate the open access to law enforcement that comes from the transparency they call for. After both parties perform the introspective evaluation, they then present the results to the other to assess the validity of the outcomes. Hopefully, this creates the dialogue that leads to the next step in the process.
Interaction
In this step, both parties find ways to work together, solve problems, and understand their partners in public safety. Perhaps the most effective tool to achieve this is a citizen police academy (CPA), which provides a cursory knowledge for community members. This knowledge becomes invaluable in the event of a controversial community/law enforcement interaction, and engagement efforts such as ride-alongs become more effective tools for building relationships. Law enforcement’s role in this step is simple: to remind the community through its actions that their officers are people first. This is achieved through interaction in a non-enforcement role – that is, interactions with citizens other than when they are victims, witnesses, or suspects.
One activity that is conducive for this interaction is non-tactical foot patrol. Interacting with the community for the purpose of building relationships fosters genuine connections that build relational equity, including relationships with youths. Involving youths – the future of the community – early in the relationship-building process with law enforcement helps to normalize positive relationships. The Baltimore Police Department endeavored to create a foot patrol curriculum to provide more than just on-the-job training for both entry level and veteran officers in efforts to foster noncriminal interactions with the community. This effort has received positive feedback from both the community and the officers. Through positive interaction between the parties, the groundwork is laid for the next step in the process.
Investment
This final component of repairing relationships between the community and law enforcement is the most difficult to achieve, but pays the most dividends. When one party invests in another, it becomes tied to the successes and failures of the other party. This must be the prevailing thought when it comes to community relationships with law enforcement. It is important that law enforcement officers take personally any major occurrences in their given communities, whether positive or negative. This attachment creates connections that incentivize law enforcement to participate.
An important function that must be performed by law enforcement is evaluating the community intelligence quotients (IQ) of its officers. An officer who works in a certain area for an extended time period should be aware of the complexities of that area, including demographics, special customs, and history. This assessment should be a regular part of development for an officer and can abate issues as accountability is fostered to seek knowledge about the community. The community must be ready and willing to impart this knowledge to law enforcement, whether through formal training settings or through informal daily contact.
For example, the Baltimore Police Department has provided entry level and veteran officers an historical perspective – through a series of symposiums on “The History of Baltimore” – to better educate them on the neighborhoods they patrol. The community’s responsibility is to ensure the involvement of residents across the entire community – especially youths – in the relationship-building process. Having young people attend community meetings and town halls fosters future relationships with law enforcement.
If a concerted effort is made to delve into the aforementioned steps, strides could be made to repair the relationship between a community and its law enforcement agency. However, a half-hearted attempt to begin the process will be met with difficulties, as the journey to develop and repair relationships requires a full commitment. After the third step has been implemented, any difficulties experienced in the complex relationship will not be mitigated. Although this process to repair the police/community relationship is not a silver bullet, it does provide the launching pad for a serious attempt at change.
Major Marc R. Partee is a Baltimore native and 20-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department. He has served in a multitude of positions in his years of service. He is currently the commander of the Fugitive Apprehension Section and was previously the executive officer for the Special Operations and Development Division, director of the Professional Development and Training Academy, commander of the Northwest District, assistant district commander of the Central and Northwest Districts, commander of the Inner Harbor Unit, operations lieutenant for the Central District, acting commander of the Central Records Section, detective in the Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force, detective in the Violent Crimes Division Youth Violence Strike Force, and patrol officer in the Central District. He holds and Bachelor of Arts degree from Morgan State University in Political Science and a Master of Science degree from the University of Baltimore in Criminal Justice. He is currently an adjunct professor at Stevenson University in the Criminal Justice Department.
Three “I”s to Repairing the Police/Community Relationship
Over the years, the fragile relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve has been strained to the point of fracture. The goal now for law enforcement agencies is to repair existing relationships with the communities they serve and build new positive relationships with youths to ensure future community resilience.
Introspection
Both the community and law enforcement must approach this process with the desire to purge themselves of any behaviors, practices, or policies that would hinder closing the divide between the two. Both must ask themselves what they are contributing to the success and to the failure of the relationship. By addressing the long-held cynicism that permeates the culture, law enforcement not only can pull back the “blue curtain,” but rip it down altogether to foster the transparency that communities crave and to help humanize law enforcement. This can also help reduce the negative stigma that communities sometimes associate with cooperating with the police – for example, the “stop snitching” mantra the criminal element may use to perpetuate crime and further imprison community members in their own neighborhoods. By making a conscious effort to build partnerships with law enforcement and educate themselves on policies and procedures, communities can ultimately dissipate the ambiguity that arises in controversial incidents. The community must navigate the open access to law enforcement that comes from the transparency they call for. After both parties perform the introspective evaluation, they then present the results to the other to assess the validity of the outcomes. Hopefully, this creates the dialogue that leads to the next step in the process.Interaction
In this step, both parties find ways to work together, solve problems, and understand their partners in public safety. Perhaps the most effective tool to achieve this is a citizen police academy (CPA), which provides a cursory knowledge for community members. This knowledge becomes invaluable in the event of a controversial community/law enforcement interaction, and engagement efforts such as ride-alongs become more effective tools for building relationships. Law enforcement’s role in this step is simple: to remind the community through its actions that their officers are people first. This is achieved through interaction in a non-enforcement role – that is, interactions with citizens other than when they are victims, witnesses, or suspects. One activity that is conducive for this interaction is non-tactical foot patrol. Interacting with the community for the purpose of building relationships fosters genuine connections that build relational equity, including relationships with youths. Involving youths – the future of the community – early in the relationship-building process with law enforcement helps to normalize positive relationships. The Baltimore Police Department endeavored to create a foot patrol curriculum to provide more than just on-the-job training for both entry level and veteran officers in efforts to foster noncriminal interactions with the community. This effort has received positive feedback from both the community and the officers. Through positive interaction between the parties, the groundwork is laid for the next step in the process.Investment
This final component of repairing relationships between the community and law enforcement is the most difficult to achieve, but pays the most dividends. When one party invests in another, it becomes tied to the successes and failures of the other party. This must be the prevailing thought when it comes to community relationships with law enforcement. It is important that law enforcement officers take personally any major occurrences in their given communities, whether positive or negative. This attachment creates connections that incentivize law enforcement to participate. An important function that must be performed by law enforcement is evaluating the community intelligence quotients (IQ) of its officers. An officer who works in a certain area for an extended time period should be aware of the complexities of that area, including demographics, special customs, and history. This assessment should be a regular part of development for an officer and can abate issues as accountability is fostered to seek knowledge about the community. The community must be ready and willing to impart this knowledge to law enforcement, whether through formal training settings or through informal daily contact. For example, the Baltimore Police Department has provided entry level and veteran officers an historical perspective – through a series of symposiums on “The History of Baltimore” – to better educate them on the neighborhoods they patrol. The community’s responsibility is to ensure the involvement of residents across the entire community – especially youths – in the relationship-building process. Having young people attend community meetings and town halls fosters future relationships with law enforcement. If a concerted effort is made to delve into the aforementioned steps, strides could be made to repair the relationship between a community and its law enforcement agency. However, a half-hearted attempt to begin the process will be met with difficulties, as the journey to develop and repair relationships requires a full commitment. After the third step has been implemented, any difficulties experienced in the complex relationship will not be mitigated. Although this process to repair the police/community relationship is not a silver bullet, it does provide the launching pad for a serious attempt at change.Major Marc R. Partee is a Baltimore native and 20-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department. He has served in a multitude of positions in his years of service. He is currently the commander of the Fugitive Apprehension Section and was previously the executive officer for the Special Operations and Development Division, director of the Professional Development and Training Academy, commander of the Northwest District, assistant district commander of the Central and Northwest Districts, commander of the Inner Harbor Unit, operations lieutenant for the Central District, acting commander of the Central Records Section, detective in the Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force, detective in the Violent Crimes Division Youth Violence Strike Force, and patrol officer in the Central District. He holds and Bachelor of Arts degree from Morgan State University in Political Science and a Master of Science degree from the University of Baltimore in Criminal Justice. He is currently an adjunct professor at Stevenson University in the Criminal Justice Department.
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Three “I”s to Repairing the Police/Community Relationship
SHARE:
TAGS:
COMMENTS
RELATED ARTICLES
TRENDING
Article Out Loud – Defining Workplace Violence
Article Out Loud – CBRN Response Capabilities and Identified Gaps
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TRENDING
Article Out Loud – Defining Workplace Violence
Article Out Loud – CBRN Response Capabilities and Identified Gaps
Perfect Storm: Albuterol Shortage & Supply Chain Upset