The New City Council: Restoring Trust and Pride in the Police Department

Yesterday, I had posted on the topic of what the city council needs to do to deal with crime, and to clean up the police department.  These are very important topics.

But there is more that is needed.  The new mayor and city council need to deliver some clear signals to the men and women of the police department.  They need to communicate with them; and they need to lead.

Here is what all these police officers need to be told-- indeed, what they need to hear.

The message needs to be sent that they are valued, and that they are appreciated for the extraordinarily important role they play in our community.  They need to hear that their role is regarded as integral to the city's future; and that what they do for the city is regarded and esteemed very highly.  They need to hear that the city council likes police officers, and appreciates them.

The mayor and city council need to build up individual officers' sense of pride in their own role, and their understanding of how important it is for the city's well being.  They need to let the officers know that pride in the department's work is necessarily dependent on a desire and a commitment to make it the very best it can be.  This will require doing things a bit differently, because continuing the same path will not achieve those ends.

And that means there will be high expectations of officers of every rank.  And with these high expectations, the department will begin to regain trust in the community, and also its collective sense of pride that the department's mission is being accomplished.

Communication is very important, and the department's officers need to hear this message directly.

But in order to meet these objectives, the city council and the department will need to do those things I suggested in my post yesterday.  This means adopting a better crime-fighting approach, removing corrupt officers from the department, and instituting a new "dual track" procedure for employee discipline-- one that deals with excessive force, use of weapons and complaints from the public; and another that deals with matters of integrity and corruption in the discharge of their duties.

For the first group of offenses, officers need to be assured of due process with full appeal rights. 

But there needs to be a faster, more effective, streamlined procedure for dealing with that second group of alleged offenses.  Some types of infractions may need to lead to automatic termination.  The city manager needs to be taken completely out of the loop if possible; and some steps need to be eliminated. 

The officers who handle those processes internally need to be of unquestioned integrity and impartiality.  And they need to be precisely schooled in the "more than likely, greater than 50%" standard for making administrative determinations to discipline or terminate.

I think what is needed is leadership.  The officers in the department need to feel a greater sense of pride in the role they play, in the department and in its mission.  The public needs to have higher esteem for the department.  These outcomes are going to be much more likely to occur if the department objectively improves itself-- dramatically.

Comments

[Ken Hill]

Those police who do take their responsibility seriously have no doubt been quite discouraged by the velvet glove treatment of those who do NOT take the job seriously and honestly. The latter group have received some positive reinforcement for their reprehensible behaviors. Weeding out these bad apples is essential and must be one of the first steps in effecting overall improvement. Morale of the good officers will then improve.

[Joe Guarino]

Ken, I think you are absolutely right that needs to happen.

But I would add that what you are suggesting is necessary, but it is not sufficient. In order for the police force to take pride in what they are doing, and build morale, they must have a sense of mission that is communicated to them, and high expectations. And they need to see that the department is aggressively carrying out its mission with effectiveness.

[Brenda Bowers]

Yes! Now if the councilmembers will just take heed.

As for the new City Manager, I think the council members should be on alert that this man is not to be trusted to do what he was told to do. His very first week on the job he changed considerably a direct voted upon and approved order from the City council. This IMO is an indication of his arrogance and should be nipped in the bud right now. This city doesn't need another Mitch Johnson. BB

[Joe Guarino]

Brenda, I agree with you that maneuver he pulled was a bit worrisome. It appeared he was testing his bosses.

[jaycee]

The officers need to be reassured that their leadership will not be co-opted by corrupt politicians for partisan shenanigans.

[Joe Guarino]

Absolutely, Jaycee. That has been an enormous problem.

I think they also need to feel honored by the political class. There have been so many efforts locally to undermine them, in so many ways. We need to build them up.

[Stormy]

As we learn more about Major Hasan, and his growing Islamic militancy within the military ranks, it becomes obvious that our military is riddled with, and decaying from within, political correctness, just like GPD. We are looking past dangerous behavior to be politically correct in the worship of "diversity". The question now is will our new city leadership allow it to continue or begin to make changes?

[Roger Greene]

"As for the new City Manager, I think the council members should be on alert that this man is not to be trusted to do what he was told to do. His very first week on the job he changed considerably a direct voted upon and approved order from the City council."

I missed that one. Can someone catch me up?

[Joe Guarino]

My recollection, Roger, is that he changed a "request for proposal" authorization extended by the City Council for the landfill proposals to a "request for qualifications". Readers, correct me if I am wrong.