More and more, push for police reform starts with the chief
| NEW YORK
More and more, many within the top brass of American policing are doing what was once unthinkable: acknowledging that their departments have created many of the deep rifts that now beset minority communities and the men and women who police them.
On Monday, the president of America鈥檚 largest police organization, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, pointed to the 鈥渄arker periods鈥� within the history of American law enforcement during a convention address in San Diego. Chief Terrence Cunningham聽told the audience that 鈥渢his dark side of our shared history has created a multigenerational, almost inherited, mistrust between many communities of color and their law enforcement agencies.鈥�
But Mr. Cunningham, also chief of police in Wellesley, Mass., a white, wealthy suburb of Boston, received a standing ovation for going even further.
鈥淲hile we obviously cannot change the past, it is clear that we must change the future,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or our part, the first step is for law enforcement and the IACP to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society鈥檚 historical mistreatment of communities of color.鈥�
The apology infuriated many of the rank-and-file across the country, and some Black Lives Matter activists reacted with skepticism. But a number of criminal justice scholars saw the police chief鈥檚 address as part of the beginning of a new kind of effort 鈥� an effort rooted in the subtleties of human emotion and personal relationships, and a necessary part of healing the nation鈥檚 historical wounds.
鈥淭his is really groundbreaking,鈥� says Tod Burke, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University in Virginia and a former Maryland police officer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a paradigm shift, and what needs to happen is happening 鈥� the shift is coming from the top.鈥�
鈥淲e can鈥檛 address a problem unless we identify the problem,鈥� Professor Burke adds. 鈥淎nd I think what they鈥檙e doing now 鈥� you know what, let鈥檚 call it what it is: We have a problem now, we鈥檝e had problems in the past, and we鈥檙e apologizing for our role in creating the problem.鈥�
Changes from the top
There have been signs that other top officials and local police chiefs have been turning more attention to the issue 鈥� and as more than lip-service.
Last week, newly installed New York Police Commissioner James O鈥橬eill touted the fact that the city had just experienced the safest September in more than 20 years, with total crime down 12 percent from last year. 聽
鈥淏ut while the NYPD achieved what many said was unachievable 鈥� making New York the safest big city in America 鈥� we have to acknowledge that we did so sometimes at the expense of vital support of some of the communities we swore to protect,鈥� 鈥淲e did so sometimes in ways that inflamed old wounds, especially among people of color. And those wounds run very deep.鈥�
Earlier, former High Point, N.C., Police Chief James Fealey told a police-reform advocacy group that he needed to acknowledge there was 鈥渁 long history of baggage between the police and the minority community,鈥� and that a lot of what they were doing to address this wasn鈥檛 working.
鈥淚'll say, 鈥業 realize we have let you down, and I apologize for that,鈥� 鈥� Chief Fealey told the National Network for Safe Communities聽his meetings with members of minority communities. "I'll start to see some heads nodding in agreement. I'll say, 鈥楪ive us one more chance. Let's work together.鈥� This difficult speech has gone well every time.鈥�
Concerns among the rank-and-file
For many rank-and-file police officers who cannot speak on the record, this kind of talk leads to discouragement and anger. After all, there is lots of tension on the streets of the minority neighborhoods they police. They hold up the names of police officers assassinated in New York; Dallas; and Baton Rouge, La., during the past year and beyond.
鈥淪uch appeasement of the violent anti-police movement is just one more nail in the coffin of American law enforcement,鈥� said Bill Johnson, executive director the National Association of Police Organizations, criticizing Mr. Cunningham鈥檚 address at the IACP convention. 聽
鈥淭he people who support American police officers aren't looking for an apology,鈥� Mr. Johnson said.聽鈥淎nd for the people who hate the police, it won't make any difference."
The answer, he said,聽is not collective guilt, but individual responsibility.聽
Those frustrations are important. Without the cooperation of the rank-and-file, the tensions on the street are bound to remain, observers say.
鈥淭he police chiefs can say what they want, which is a great sign, because they鈥檙e the ones working on setting policies,鈥� says Burke. 鈥淏ut the change is not going to happen just by the words of a few police chiefs. It鈥檚 got to trickle down to the officers on the streets, and they have to buy in to this notion for things to really begin to change.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be a one-step-fits-all solution,鈥� he continues.
Just as body cameras and community policing techniques are helpful but not sufficient, acknowledging that there has been a problem and offering an apology to mend the relationship just a step 鈥� though an important one, Burke says.
A number of police chiefs agreed on Monday.
鈥淚 was one of the first ones to stand up鈥� for the ovation given to Cunningham, said Perry Tarrant, assistant chief of the Seattle police and president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, . 鈥淚 think there was high value in the apology, coming from the president of the IACP, that will bring folks that were reticent to come to the table for a conversation, to now consider doing so.鈥�
