An Open Letter to Our Nation’s Police

I am grieving. We all are grieving. We are grieving because we are losing something very important and we don’t know what to do. The loss is our nation as we once knew it or thought we did. We see our beloved country being led by a leader who makes use of popular prejudices, false claims and promises to gain and maintain power – a demagogue.

I don’t know much about economics or politics, but I do know something about policing an American city. I served four cities during my 30+ year career – street cop, trainer, detective, and in my last two cities — chief of police.

What is happening to our local police today is a nationally-led effort to subvert local police practices under federal control. We are a constitutional democracy that has struggled to live up to the dream of our Founders. Police in a community-oriented, free and democratic society have a responsibility to serve everyone. Everyone, no exceptions – not just those of who have wealth, position or political power, but everyone. And that includes immigrants who come to our country seeking a better life. They are to be protected by local police as they live and work among us and seek citizenship.

Why is that important? Because everyone here, documented or not, has a right to be helped and protected by our police. Local police are not immigration agents, nor should they enforce regulations such as nonpayment of taxes or enforce other societal regulations not involving health or safety.

Over 150 years ago, Sir Robert Peel formed the first city police department in London and proposed some principles as to how they were to operate with the public. He and others wrote Nine Principles of Policing that are just as important today as they were then. Those principles stressed crime prevention, local control and building trust. The sixth principle wisely warned: “Use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation… and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.”

The seventh principle described the importance of a close working relationship between police and those whom they serve: “Maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”

When I began policing in the early 1960s, I soon realized that policing needed to greatly improve. Police across our nation were faltering in protecting the civil rights of Black Americans and opening their ranks to women and persons of color. Changes needed to be made as to how police were selected, trained and led. I was able to be part of that important transition to what came to be called “community-oriented policing.” We needed to drive out racism and sexism in our ranks and relate better to the public.

For example, one of the first things we did in our Madison, Wisconsin was to allow anti-war and civil rights protesters to walk in the street; enabling them to visibly exercise their Constitutional right to petition the government. We decided that opening the street was more important than forcing large groups of protestors to walk on sidewalks. Instead, we would control vehicular traffic and walk and protect them. This enabled the protestors to walk in the street without being arrested as the department had done in the past. Not everyone, of course, was supportive of this move.

Today, I see the achievements my generation of police made during the past 50 years being unraveled and erased today as the new and inexperienced leaders of our nation’s Federal Bureau of Investigation seem to be influenced more by conspiracy theories than facts. Other government leaders in the Department of Justice apparently are appointed more for their fealty to the President rather than prior work records. The President now has terminated more than a dozen federal consent decrees which were ordered by a federal court to improve policing. Each of those city police departments had a pattern of civil rights abuses. More recently we have seen masked and unidentified immigration agents throughout the country arresting undocumented persons, men, women, and even children (estimated to be approximately 12 million residents in our nation today). They are federal agents, not police.

Is all lost as we once knew it? I am afraid we are witnessing our nation being turned into a feudal state; that is, a state run by oligarchs who lobby and cater to the nation’s leader to privatize and take over former governmental functions and, thereby increase their personal wealth and power even more.

To police officers in our cities, counties and states, I implore you to remember the oath you swore to support and defend our Constitution and your Code of Ethics which begin with this statement: “As a sworn officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community by safeguarding lives and property against threats that could take advantage of or harm members of my community or otherwise impact peace and order. I will uphold the Constitution and honor the rights of all to life, liberty, equality, and justice…”

Most every police officer also swore to the following, “I will support the Constitution of the United States… and will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of police officer to the best of my ability. So help me God…” You are first and foremost a Constitutional Officer; to faithfully and impartially protect our Constitution!

For our nation to exist and be free, you must faithfully serve all persons in your city and especially those who are vulnerable and to always act fairly and respectfully.

Remember, you are not the king’s soldier. You are the people’s protector. Know the difference. Don’t participate in orders that undermines your oath and your ethics.