What’s Your Job?

As many of you know, I have continued to write about what I believe will help improve our nation’s police after my retirement as Chief of Police in Madison, Wisc. This blogsite has now over 1,600 posts. The crux of my writing is to help improve police and as we learned following Dr. Deming in the 80s and 90s, to do it continuously – continuous improvement. Not to go continuously forward in today’s world, is to fall back.

But here’s the rub, the crux of the problem during these past years of protest and questionable deadly force, what IS the job of a police officer in a diverse, open, and free society? And, particularly, how are police officer today selected, trained, and led to be trust and effective in their communities?

A few years back, there was an interesting discussion about whether police were to be “warriors or guardians.” It was a good discussion, and even police websites supported the idea that policing was 90% guardian and 10% warrior. What seemed to be lost, however, was the idea that policing was a public service (something we have not taken away from those of us who served in the military, “Thank you for your service!”).

In my own experience, coming right out of the Marines, I was hired as a police officer in a wealthy suburban community. The chief and city manager made it very clear what my job was to be – a respectful public servant, helper, and community protector – a guardian.

Two years later, when I transferred to the inner city, that role was mildly taught in the academy, but not in the precinct stations. It was there we were told that we were to be warriors, fighting crime, and, incidentally, the Black community (who, we were told, hated us and wished to do us harm).

When no one told you what your job is, did not give you the training and skills do it effectively, and your supervisors were mostly absent, sounds like a disaster in the making.

And that’s where we are in many towns and cities today.

Let me say it again:

Those who wish to be our police must be intelligent, have high Emotional Intelligence, and be committed to “service above self.”
They must receive lengthy and quality-based training throughout their career focused on being Guardians of our nation’s people, its laws, culture, and the protection of life.
They must be respectful to all people at all times.
They must be trained to collaboratively work with community members to solve neighborhood policing problems.
Their leaders must be virtuous and competent.

If we are to be serious in improving our nation’s police, this must be the agenda.