A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption and the Seven Steps Necessary to Improve Our Nation’s Police.
In 2012, way before Ferguson and too many other tragedies in policing and before the release of the President’s 21st Century Task Force, I did a short (18 minute) interview with Neil Heinen in Madison.
I hope it clarifies why I write this blog, why I am so passionate about policing and why I believe that the only way police will be able to improve is from the inside out — and that’s LEADERSHIP.
During the interview address the reasons why I wrote “Arrested Development,” the four obstacles which prevent police from continuously improving, and seven necessary steps toward improvement.
I also talk about how I visualize the police role in a our society and why national reform is needed.
I served over 20 years as the chief of police in Madison (WI), four years as chief of the Burnsville (MN) Police Department, and before that as a police officer in Edina (MN) and the City of Minneapolis. I hold graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Edgewood College in Madison. I have written many articles over my years as a police leader. After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. After 25 years leading two Episcopal Churches in Portage and North Lake, Wisconsin, I now serve as Associate Pastor in a growing, dynamic, and Spirit-filled Lutheran congregation in nearby Mazomanie.
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Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 