I had a long conversation with an old friend, a police officer for over 30 years. He's spent time studying strategies for restructuring police models. He's got some thoughts I'd like to share with you.
First, let's remove the title "law enforcement officer" from certifications and training programs. Yes, enforcement is a tool officers may use to keep communities safe, but enforcement should be a late or last resort. How about "public safety officer" or "peace officer?"
We rarely need to physically arrest someone for a non-violent misdemeanor or felony. For most offenses, officers at the scene could just issue a citation to appear in court.
Adopt restorative justice models that focus on the victim, not just the perpetrator. Support ways for the offender to pay back through labor and moral growth. Prison should be a rare option, reserved for dangerous persons. (I've said we should lock up the people we are afraid of, not people we are just mad at.)
Limit cash bail only for specific, violent offenses if it is likely the person will re-offend or flee the jurisdiction.
He thinks private prisons are an evil blight and should be abolished.
Structure emergency responses so officers work in teams with para-professionals from disciplines like mental health, victim advocacy, child abuse/neglect, addiction services and homeless advocates. The officers can keep the professionals safe at the scene and may make arrests if violence has occurred. As soon as the professionals have the scene under control, the officers may return to patrol.
Funnel addicts away from jail and toward drug court and rehabilitation centers. Jailing people with possession of contraband is destructive rather than healing.
Train every officer to deal more effectively and humanely with the mentally ill. Train them in hostage and barricaded subject negotiation. The training used for specialty teams can be pared down to essential elements so that all officers can participate and renew these skills annually.
Train all officers in simulated "shoot/don't shoot" video scenarios. He thinks these high-tech 360-degree immersions should be practiced monthly, not just once or twice in a career. The police academy trains a stimulus response (danger means shoot). Officers need practice confronting real life-and-death decisions happening in milliseconds and be trained to react professionally.
Train communication skills for de-escalating situations.
Train street skills for physical combat so an officer is confident enough to wrestle a subject and get cuffs on without having to pull a gun. Once a gun is out, the officer's options decrease dramatically.
Commit to more robust community-oriented policing – biking, walking and horse-back. Officers who work their beats and know the people are more able to respond in positive and helpful ways.
We talked briefly about school resource officers, which he sees as a form of walking a beat. When it goes well, the officer interacts with students and staff in a personable, respectable way, keeping them safe for learning and eliminating bullying. But when it goes wrong, arresting kids for things they wouldn't be arrested for on the streets, it becomes part of the school-to-prison pipeline.
It is very important to recruit officers from diverse backgrounds, particularly people of color. Emphasize recruiting people who have already earned a bachelor's degree. Officers with degrees tend to use force less frequently and violate the Constitution less often.
Re-design police uniforms away from military models toward clothing representing professionals who are dedicated to public safety.
Police departments need more money to hire more quality officers. Professional training also takes time and money. Salaries need to be incentivized to attract good candidates. There are tests like the MMPI that can reveal sociopathic tendencies, tendencies to lie and underlying aggressive racism.
There are national standards, such as those developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for policies and procedures, training, use-of-force, addressing mental illness and reporting. Local departments should adopt these standards and retrain for strict adherence. Leadership from the top is key for these kinds of reforms.
We need a mandatory, nationwide reporting process to "red-flag" abusive, racist or corrupt officers to prevent them being passed from one department to another. It will take leadership to make a culture change to prevent non-professional behavior and engage cooperation from all officers. Police have a higher duty than merely maintaining the "blue wall of silence."
Police training and culture needs to move away from military models toward service models. Live into the motto "To protect and to serve."
I like my friend's ideas. He's been a cop. He knows the streets.
Lowell Grisham is a retired Episcopal priest who lives in Fayetteville. Email him at [email protected].