The Future of Police in America (Part 1/3)

David Couper

My Vision-Dream for Police in Madison, Wisc  (early 1970’s)

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

Proverbs 29.18, KJV.

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  • “Decentralize police services and develop neighborhood and team policing. The police department has been centralized since the mid-1800s. We need to get out of a centralized location and work closer to the people we serve.
  • “Build a people orientation—a sensitivity to and understanding of human behavior. I would be recruiting high-quality, educated police officers and training everyone, especially those in leadership positions, about this broader role for police. Traditional policing responded to problems but was not interested in finding their causes. We would work with community members to prevent, diminish, and even eliminate crime and other community disorder.
  • “Develop our capacity for conflict management and crisis intervention in addition to our traditional law enforcement duties. Reduce the acrimonious relationship that now exists between the police and students. After years of fighting about the [Vietnam] war, new strategies and tactics needed to be taken to handle public protests by means other than tear gas and a nightstick.
  • “[Eight years from now] we should have successfully made the quantum leap necessary to field a behavior and human services expert which shall be known as a professional police officer… Police officers of the future will be human behavior experts as well as community workers… These future police officers will also have an advocacy role within our communities. They will identify government and social problems and solve them with the resources of the government and the community.”

And later in my career we formed the Committee on the Future of the Department. This time mid-career officers shared their “vision-dream” for the department with these key findings in their report

  • Move closer to the community.
  • Make better use of technology.
  • Improve workplace wellness.

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Stay tuned for tomorrow’s continuing post on the future of policing.

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Published by David Couper

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 almost 30 years serving in and leading two Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Milwaukee, I am "sort-of" in the process of retirement. Life is good.

1 Comment

  1. David,

    I appreciate your insights on the future of policing. It’s clear that transforming law enforcement to work closely with communities is essential for progress. In my vision for the future of policing, I envision increased transparency, enhanced community relations, and a focus on de-escalation techniques to reduce conflicts. Additionally, embracing new technologies to improve response times and streamline operations will be crucial.

    Looking forward to tomorrow’s post.

    Like

    Reply

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