It's been tough to sort out how to support during the past few weeks, and I guess what I'd like to do is share.I graduated Law Enforcement Academy in 2011, hired to work at both a small department and LE for the DNR in 2012. Through those experiences I'd like to share some things ...
1) You are taught two very opposing things: first, that you are disposable. The number of times that we witnessed on video cops getting hit by vehicles, shot, stabbed, and even gassed by a tank of anhydrous ammonia was enough to get you to understand that, in reality, you need to accept this.
2) In accepting this, as in TRULY accepting this, you overcome the fear that will make you be afraid to die. When you don't have that fear you think quicker, you act quicker, and crazy as it is that is what keeps you from death, sometimes.
3) Because you know that you are disposable, and because you have continuous trauma in your life on the job, you learn that your lifeline is the people that you work with: your backup, your mutual aid, your dispatchers, etc. The shared trauma and bonds that area created ensure that you all go home. That you have each others backs. That you live until the end of your shift.
4) There is a complaint process. You can file complaints on officers when you feel like they have messed up, wrongly arrested, have broken the law, etc. However, how that complaint is handled depends on two things (1) how close that division is to the department and (2) the culture of the department.
5) So a discussion on culture ... I've been on ride alongs with 6 different departments, worked mutual aid with 7, and directly worked for 2 different bureaus. Even in the same county they are different. The one I worked for directly doesn't exist anymore and for good reason. One removed the radar from their cars - directive was on crime not on speed patrol (and it worked). One was much more concerned about the appearance of the town and community. The rest were amazing. Culture sets a tone, and that tone starts with where the community feels the importance lies. The problem is that once a culture is established, it's very difficult to change. There is now a "way things are done," performed by a group of individuals who have accepted that they are disposable and have shared trauma with bonds that ensure that they all have each other's backs. So they can go home at night. And these cultures can last for generations.
6) Where. It. Went. Wrong ... Well, it went wrong in a lot of places. (1) if you have a culture that is grounded in suppressing high crime rates you have the potential to attract those who get off dominating people. And for those who wish to dominate people, this is the perfect way to do it. And since those areas have the most opportunity to dominate and a culture of shared-trauma-cover-my-ass-everyone-goes-home-at-night they have the opportunity to flourish with little to keep them in check. ... (2) if you have a division handling complaints that is not INDEPENDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT then you have no way to keep those corrupt or aggressive officers in check. This also makes it harder for one officer to report on another officer ... (3) if you as an officer have not had your genuine "OH SHIT" moment where it's OK for you not to go home, you harbor an unhealthy fear of death. That fear will make you jump from asking to see a license to grabbing for your weapon way WAY out of play with reality. That needs to be recognized and addressed at the FTO level... (4) initial training, continuous training, and evaluations. Initial training that focuses more on communication and conflict resolution than DAAT and firearms tactics. I learned so much more under the DNR's culture on how to handle situations so they did NOT escalate, because their's was a culture where it was about finding solutions and listening instead of hunting for reasons to cite someone, which was my village cop job culture.
7) How. Do. We. Fix. It ... (1) More surveillance to protect everyone involved (body cameras). No one should have to rely on a random cell phone to see what happened. ... (2) A division that handle's complaints that is independent of the department that has its roots in criminal law/enforcement. Independent in processes, but educated in the job. ... (3) Training that also focuses on verbal tactics, negotiation, and conflict resolution. Because if you can start by defusing the situation, you are way less likely to escalate it... (4) Money from citations goes to the governing body and NOT the department. Getting informed on the side about funding goals as I'm getting pulled into an office for giving out a lot of warnings instead of writing paper but covering your ass as a chief by saying "Not that we have quotas or anything" is NOT THE GOAL OF POLICE WORK. I'm sorry, but when I pull a car over for an exhaust system that is dragging on the ground that I want fixed, writing a citation isn't anything but a funding move. He needs a 5-day R&R to make him fix the thing. THAT is what needs to happen. The fact that my forest with the DNR got zero funds back from all citations written was, in hindsight, a Godsend.
Most cops work in this world. A world where their own culture sets them up for failure because the support structure it needs to offer protection to do a job that forces them to give their life up daily also protects those violent or inept ones who, at least, should be fired if not prosecuted. A world where the public beast loves them one moment and wants to slaughter them the next. A world where their focus may be on their community, but they may have to deal with a chief whose focus is budgetary. We can march all we like, we can protest, and make memes and black out our social media walls, but until we have a governing body that can restructure the system of accountability, an education platform that is uniform and refocused, and a local restructuring of police funding and focus on surveillance, then we will accomplish nothing more than the temporary gains and losses that have been going on for decades.
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