Accepting the Reality of Change

May 23, 2016
Change is the one constant we all face, so we may as well learn to not only accept it, but embrace and make it our own.

Policing in America has been at the center of the our collective attention now for the better part of two years, when a series of unrelated but high-profile/high-controversy events began unfolding in the national eye.  Even in the midst of an election year, when everybody’s pet political footballs are bound to be tossed around ensuring no one of them falls in the public eye for too long, issues and concerns surrounding criminal justice have endured and become prominent footballs in their own right.  Increasingly, calls for “police reform” in certain and various cities across the country have arisen.  In some areas, “reform” – in whatever forms it may take – is in full bloom, with the intention of changing cultures and practices in agencies that some feel have slid into dysfunctionality, racism, and corruption.

Close to our home, the Chicago Police Department is under new and blisteringly critical scrutiny, highlighted by the release last month of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force’s report citing allegedly racially-motivated policing and behavior, little accountability for rogue officers or those starting down the “wrong path” while failing to reward, support, or protect good officers, ineffective investigations into allegations of excessive force, inadequate ongoing and mandatory training of officers, and a lack professionalism in how the “human capital” of the department is managed and supervised.  The report listed over 100 recommendations aimed at reforming the CPD.

Other police departments are under the gun, as well.  Departments from Albuquerque, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, and across much of the rest of the alphabet, too, are in the sights of local reformers and the USDOJ.  It’s certainly no coincidence many of these departments are in large urbanized cities, or of suburbs in their MSAs, where crime and poverty rates outpace levels seen in smaller or more affluent communities, or even in very large but markedly safer cities regardless of relatively affluence.  There does seem to be a correlation between complaints of how police do their jobs and where law enforcement is overworked, overwhelmed, and sometimes literally outgunned by the criminal element they face day in and day out.  Desperate times met with desperate measures, perhaps, and in today’s media saturated environment… 

The truth is, calls for reform are not going away, at least not anytime soon.  These things have a tendency to feed upon themselves; as outrage spreads over a police shooting in Chicago, heed is taken in some other city, so-called “patterns of police misconduct” will be seen in a completely dissimilar – and usually completely justified or even innocuous – incident hundreds of miles away and the call for reform will be taken up there.  In time, this, too, shall pass.  Just don’t stand around holding your breath, we have awhile to go yet.  New and time-consuming procedures have already been put in place in some locales to record street stops and, as any cop knows, adding steps and layers of bureaucracy to routine activity reduces the level of that activity.  The pushback against perceived overaggressive policing demanded by activists and some politicians came, and the results have been predictable:  street stops and enforcement are down, there has been a corresponding bump in violent crime in the most vulnerable cities, and many officers are expressing fear at becoming the next YouTube sensation or public pariah.  Critics of the police – often even the same ones assuming ill-intent on the front end of the equation – are now calling them out for de-policing.  That officers would pull back, however, is hardly a surprise:

That officers would reduce their engagement under such a tsunami of hatred is both understandable and inevitable. Policing is political. If the press, the political elites, and media-amplified advocates are relentlessly sending the message that proactive policing is bigoted, the cops will eventually do less of it. This is not unprofessional conduct; it is how policing legitimacy is calibrated. The only puzzle is why the activists are so surprised and angered that officers are backing off; such a retreat is precisely what they have been demanding.

-           Heather Mac Donald, “Back to Bedlam”, City Journal, 4/19/2016

The emotional impact of public criticism on today’s cops

The sentiment behind today’s criticism of police and policing techniques is largely one of anger, frustration, and fear – sometimes legitimate if we take a view with any level of honest objectivity – but also a degree of naiveté or even willful ignorance of the realities of the street and what cops in the most dangerous beats face on a daily basis.  The emotional impact on cops has likewise been one off anger, frustration, and fear, and it is felt not just in the beats and cities receiving the most criticism but expresses across the profession even where public support largely remains strong.  Just as suspicion of the greater community of law enforcers has been cast over the (often merely perceived but sometimes real) sins of the few, so too is the impact being felt; all in the law enforcement fraternity are susceptible to the pain of criticism.

The danger to psyche and soul is real and, if not managed, threatens not just the officers feeling embattled but their communities and profession.  Communities suffer when its police withdraw, become predominantly reactive, or even start to practice de-policing.  Individual officers risk greater levels of burnout, anger, and personal depression.  Management of the emotional impact is crucial to maintaining morale and effectiveness.  So how can officers do this?;

Keep the critics in perspective  

Even when it seems every nightly newscast and daily paper features another protest, or highlights a critic’s interview, remember they are just the day’s “squeaky wheel” who might represent a loud but relatively small minority.  If you dig a little deeper, look a little farther, you will see law enforcement in general still has a great number of supporters and fans, across all demographics.  Their voices aren’t as interesting to the press but they are there and do manage to make themselves known.  Listen for their voices;

Don’t take criticism personally

Most critics are targeting law enforcement practices in general – usually those they perceive as rooted in bias or corruption – and then within just a very narrow slice in a specific department or even division.  Their beliefs may be off-base, reflecting a bias of their own, or rooted in ignorance, but if their shots are not aimed specifically at you, avoid taking grievances personally.  Those that do lump all cops into the same categories without nuance or bothering to understand jurisdictional distinctions are not to be taken seriously. 

Look instead to what goes on in your own communities and beats.  You will probably find far more support than condemnation; focus on that instead of the barbs of the outliers.  And use your position as an opportunity to represent all that is good in law enforcement and educate the many people who simply don’t know that much about the profession, or the “hows” and “whys” behind some of the practices that may confuse them. 

Stay open-minded to discomfort

This is a more controversial (one many readers might reject) idea, but also important to keep in mind:  What if some of the criticism and distrust has been earned?

Honest cops with a sense of history know law enforcement has a checkered past in some places and with some populations.  They also know that sometimes the past is still very real in the collective memories of certain groups – and in their daily experiences.

Good cops know not all of their peers share the same ethics, and those who don’t quickly become the representatives of all that is wrong in policing no matter how much a minority they may be.  Good cops also know how hard it is to rid the ranks of the not-so-good.

Be open-minded to the fact we can and do screw up and, when repeatedly screwing up ethically and constitutionally is part of an institutional culture, distrust and outrage is bred.  Everyone reaps the fallout.  Owning that fact, and doing everything possible to hold ourselves accountable personally and departmentally is the best defense against the fallout wrought by the few who are ethically challenged among us. 

Accept that change is the one constant, and learn to embrace (or at least tolerate) it

For all the talk about “reform” it is really just about effecting change.  You may agree or disagree with proposals for reform/change, or you may find them politically motivated overreach, but the fact is law enforcement is a politically vulnerable institution and change is often driven by shifting cultural mores and expectations.

The problem is that rank-and-file officers tend to catastrophize change.  The reality is that policing has undergone many periods of transformation, even politically and societally driven reforms, worked through judicial decisions that upended years of accepted practice overnight, and has seen cops required to do more and more to increasing both professionalism and, along with it, bureaucratic requirements.  And yet the profession trudges on. 

Change is the one constant we all face, so we may as well learn to not only accept it, but embrace and make it our own.  

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