While the large-scale demonstrations against police killings of unarmed men have ebbed, the underlying causes of the protests remain. Too many Americans, especially persons of color, remain suspicious and distrustful of police. In their eyes, police are rarely held accountable for their mistakes or misconduct, even when those errors cost the lives of innocent persons.

Accountability is an issue that has bedeviled law enforcement administrators, municipal leaders, community activists, and sociologists since the 1960’s.  Police have done themselves no favors with their knee-jerk opposition to any attempt to hold officers or departments accountable for misconduct. Though in some ways understandable, the reluctance of police agencies to hold members accountable for errors is enormously counterproductive.

Law enforcement agencies that refuse to hold their members accountable can break the essential links between police and the communities they serve. Lack of accountability erodes public trust and fosters suspicion and resentment. Citizens who distrust the police are less likely to provide information or other assistance that could help police in their efforts to reduce crime. Most people understand that law enforcement is difficult, demanding, and dangerous, but they also expect that when an officer makes an error – especially an error that results in the death of an unarmed citizen – that some corrective action will be taken.

Many police chiefs and top administrators recognize the damage that denying misconduct and protecting officers from accountability is doing. So do many – if not most – rank-and-file police officers. Given a choice, the vast majority of police officers would prefer that all of their colleagues behave professionally at all times.

But police culture today is a powerful impediment to police accountability. The culture of law enforcement is all-enveloping, and law enforcement officers highly value the camaraderie and sense of belonging that membership in the police “fraternity” bestows.  Unfortunately, many elements of law enforcement culture are antithetical to accountability, including an ‘us versus them’ mentality, a high regard for autonomy, a commitment to secrecy, and a feeling of solidarity with members of their own organization.

Establishing a culture of accountability must focus on organizational changes, rather than on the actions of individual officers. The problem is systemic, and attempting to place the blame for misconduct on ‘a few bad apples’ are doomed to fail. Many police agencies have taken steps to increase accountability, including the creation of police review boards, early intervention systems, improved citizen complaint procedures, external review of critical incidents, additional restrictions on the use of deadly force, better employee evaluation systems, higher educational standards for new hires, more comprehensive training, and greater emphasis on community-oriented policing.

Not all of these steps can be effective in every department, and research to identify the most effective practices continues, but while it might not be apparent to the casual observer, overall police accountability is greatly improved since the 1960’s.

But despite progress, problems remain. Like civil aviation, medicine, and other professions, the margin for error in law enforcement is razor-thin. Mistakes can be uncorrectable and the consequences can be irrevocable.

Efforts to increase police accountability shouldn’t be viewed as threatening or hostile by police officers and their most ardent supporters. Greater transparency and a good-faith effort to hold departments and individual officers accountable for their actions are in the best interests of police and citizens alike.

“I know being a cop is hard. I know that shit’s dangerous. I know it is, okay? But some jobs can’t have bad apples. Some jobs, everybody gotta be good. Like pilots. Ya know, American Airlines can’t be like, ‘Most of our pilots like to land. We just got a few bad apples that like to crash into mountains.’ 

– Comedian Chris Rock

January 1, 2019

Saw a social media post that stated, “Unless You’re Willing to Pick Up a Badge and Protect Your City, I Suggest You Stop Criticizing Those Who Are and be Thankful for Their Sacrifice.”

While eerily reminiscent of COL Jessup’s unhinged testimony in A Few Good Men, this post reflects an attitude that might not be as helpful as some posters believe.

I was a police officer for nine years, so I guess I am permitted to criticize police officers who fail to live up to their oaths.  I don’t do it much – and I practically never do it in public – because I understand how difficult and dangerous the job can be, and how often police officers are unsupported by their departments and their communities. But I also believe that a citizen can appreciate the sacrifices of public servants while preserving the right to point out instances when one of those servants performed poorly.

The idea that only a police officer can comment on the actions of another officer is transparently childish and is remarkably counterproductive. If a clerk at a fast food restaurant gives you the wrong sandwich, do you stay silent because you never actually worked behind a fast food counter?

Honest and accurate feedback on performance is critical to the well-being of any organization. Reflexively denying the validity or truth of any criticism and attacking the critic for not serving drives a wedge between the police and the community they serve. An organization that cannot accept and act on honest criticism is doomed to fail.  The results will be a lack of accountability, responsibility, and professionalism leading to a downward spiral of declining performance.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill

From: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/winston_churchill_103863?src=t_criticism

November 1, 2018

When I was a sergeant in a big-city police department, having joined the department after serving four years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, I was selected to serve as a member of the instructor cadre for a contractor-developed management/supervision class to be given to all supervisory officers, sergeants and above.

As someone who had learned the basics of leadership in the U.S. military, I was already aware that police supervisors received zero leadership training or encouragement and that very few seemed interested in learning. Still, I was unprepared for the absolute refusal of some senior officers to accept even the most basic responsibilities of leadership. Taking responsibility for the work of others, holding subordinates accountable for their performance, supporting their subordinates in any manner whatsoever: these were completely foreign concepts that apparently had no place in my department. The mere suggestion that a supervisor had responsibilities to anyone but him or herself was contemptuously derided.

The training course was presented in ten modules, one per week, and I was one of the instructors for one of the modules, so over the course of the program I interacted with every senior officer on the department. Many of the younger supervisors were actually interested in the material, but they were openly ridiculed by older, more senior officers.

I understood at the time that police personnel practices then (and, I suspect, now) were unlikely to produce effective leaders. Police departments mostly hire non-college graduates with limited occupational experience for entry-level positions. From that point on, every supervisory position is filled from the same small, inexperienced pool. Leadership training is rare, and few, if any departments go outside their own ranks to hire sergeants, lieutenants, or captains, thus guaranteeing that no supervisor will have any actual supervisory or managerial experience, except what they have picked up watching their own supervisors flail. A police captain in a large department might be responsible for two hundred officers, millions of dollars in equipment and infrastructure, and the safety of thousands of citizens. What other industry in America would appoint a person to such a position with no experience, training, or education in planning, budgeting, personnel administration, or leadership?

But while I understood many of the obstacles to effective leadership within the police department, I was not prepared for the degree to which actual “leaders” refused to accept their role. It was then that I fully realized that my department was essentially a Cub Scout troop without adult supervision. The cubs were in charge. It was a low point in my law enforcement career.

I was fortunate in that I had already earned a master’s degree, so, unlike many of my colleagues, I had employment opportunities outside of law enforcement or private security. I took a pay cut to leave, but it was well worth it.

Ultimately, I spent nine years on the police department, not including three years as a police cadet while attending school and another half year as a civilian planner. I am glad that I was there and I am proud of my service. I think that everyone should work as a police officer for five years, but no one should stay longer than that.

My law enforcement experience was primarily limited to a single department at a single point in time. Other large departments may have operated differently and my experience from decades ago might be irrelevant today. I certainly hope so.

Originally posted to Quora 10.13.2018

October 13, 2018