Seven things police departments are doing differently
Cases of police in the U.S. killing or injuring civilians continue to shock and dismay. But in some notable precincts, the culture is changing. Not all these reforms are voluntary. Some come from federal investigations into police departments with a history of overzealous use of force. Others are responses to lawsuits or high-profile incidents that have incited widespread protest.
The overall aims of these changes: Regain trust in the community and restore the central mission of police officers —to serve and protect.
1. Bettering community relationships
Since Police Chief Chris Magnus joined the Richmond Police Department, he’s instituted geographic policing. That means each police officer covers specific areas of town for an extended period of time in order to better familiarize themselves and address the top priorities of the neighborhood.
To reduce gun violence in Richmond, Chief Magnus’ approach has been to build a positive community-police relationship. He says:
“I think there were a lot of us who started to recognize that we had to do more than just make the arrest and the traffic stops, and we had to build a whole new level of engagement and relationships with residents. It sounds so easy, but it’s not, and it means doing some things that don’t necessarily come naturally to police officers.”
Learn more about community policing in our two-part short documentary — Part 1 & 2:
2. Training officers on implicit bias
Numerous studies show a racial bias in some policing. Lewis Walker studies race, inequality and poverty at Western Michigan University. He consults with departments regarding ways police in Kalamazoo, MI can better engage with communities of color. Walker says:
“It is important to me that police officers understand implicit bias. And not fight it, but understand that we are all socialized. This country socializes us to be biased. It is not just a white thing. It’s an American thing.”
In the last year, demand has surged for “Fair and Impartial Policing” training on implicit bias — or unconscious stereotypes and prejudices, including in departments like Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Dallas.
“After Ferguson, followed by New York, followed by Cleveland, there has been much more demand for training on implicit bias for police. Most of them leave believing that bias is more widespread than they thought.”
— Professor Lorie Fridell, leader “Fair and Impartial Policing” training
The LAPD makes race relations a priority in order to regain the trust of the community it’s serving:
3. Diversifying police demographics
After the killing of unarmed teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, the nation learned what residents knew: The police force didn’t look much like the community it was serving.
The New York Times looked at hundreds of police departments across the U.S. and found that the percentage of whites on the force is more than 30 percent higher than in the communities they serve.
Tash Nguyen, an organizer with the anti-prison group Sin Barras in California, explains:
“When brown or black people are being apprehended, and are not speaking or responding to white officers, a Latino officer will always be brought in to negotiate, and seem to speak from a place of empathy when they’re really just conveying the same thing.”
Still, having more brown, black, female and LGBTQ officers may open up space for discussion and allows reform take place within a department.
4. Recording encounters with body cameras
Using body or mobile cameras as a tool for transparency seems like a no-brainer. Bystanders capturing police incidents with mobile phones have catapulted the issue of police brutality to the forefront of our national conscience over the past year. Now, the Department of Justice has launched a $20 million body camera implementation project for local police forces.
Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Miami have started pilot programs and Baltimore’s mayor announced its officers will be equipped by 2016.
Still, body cameras may only be part of the solution:
“There’s been a lot of talk about body cameras as a silver bullet or a solution. I think the task force concluded that there is a role for technology to play in building additional trust and accountability, but it’s not a panacea, and that it has to be embedded in a broader change in culture and a legal framework that ensures that people’s privacy is respected.”
— President Barack Obama
We look at how body cameras may help:
5. Using de-escalation techniques
More police are being trained to listen, communicate and recognize certain types of body language. Officers in cities like Seattle and Cleveland are now being required to receive de-escalation training after the Justice Department investigated and found inappropriate uses of force.
“De-escalation techniques may include verbal persuasion and warnings and tactical de-escalation techniques, such as slowing down the pace or an incident, waiting out subjects, creating distance (and thus the reactionary gap) between the officer and the threat, and requesting additional resources.”
— Terms of settlement between Cleveland Police Department and the DOJ
Cops in other countries have used de-escalation tactics for some time:
Vacationing Swedish cops schooled NYPD officers with this reaction to a subway fight:
6. Reasoning with the mentally ill
Half of all Americans killed by the police every year had a mental illness.
“Traditional law enforcement tactics are rooted in logic, in reasoning — and in issuing commands for someone to comply so that we can make the situation safe right now by taking a person into custody. But barking orders at a person with serious mental illness doesn’t work.”
— Douglas County Police Capt. Attila Denes
More officers are learning to better identify and interact with the mentally ill. In Colorado, for example, half of the police force has gone through a crisis intervention training (or CIT) to pick up on the signals and react accordingly.
In addition to such training, San Antonio, TX, police officers have access to a mental health unit, which they can call when necessary.
7. Tase only when other methods fail
Although Tasers appear to be a better alternative to guns, they can still cause harm and even death. The Justice Department found Cleveland police were previously using them on children and the mentally ill.
The new rules reserve Taser use to situations when an individual is aggressively resisting arrest, could cause harm to the officer or when less forceful methods aren’t working.
Connecticut recently passed a first-in-the-nation law requiring cops to file a thorough report every time they use Tasers, which will later be posted online.
“They are less lethal than guns. But [Tasers] are very lethal. They can kill and we treat them just as we treat guns.”
