海角大神

In his 32-year career in the Miami Police Department, Capt. Delrish Moss served under 11 different police chiefs. He learned something from each one, but when he left to become chief of police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2016, one piece of advice stood out.

Being a police chief means working on a three-legged table. Politicians are one leg, the community another, and the rank-and-file another.

鈥淵ou have to make sure all the legs are sturdy and balanced,鈥� says Captain Moss, who now works in the police department at Florida International University in Miami.

In Ferguson, he took charge of perhaps the most precarious three-legged table in the country. He was the city鈥檚 first permanent chief since the police shooting of Michael Brown triggered a federal investigation and consent decree, as well as nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. The community didn鈥檛 trust local police, and it didn鈥檛 trust out-of-town police brought in to fix things either 鈥� a protest greeted Captain Moss on his first day.

He left Ferguson 2 1/2 years ago to care for his ill mother. He鈥檇 accomplished some of his goals by then, he says, such as increasing the number of Black and female officers in the department. But many needed more time.

鈥淚t takes about five years to create a cultural shift,鈥� he says. Changing a chief in the middle of that, when they鈥檒l 鈥渨ant to put their stamp on things,鈥� he adds, 鈥渃an be confusing.鈥�

Changing a police chief can be a powerful lever for reform. But changing them too often can be a hindrance. Historically, chiefs averaged five to seven years at a department, according to Laura Cooper, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Today, the average tenure is around two to three years. And in the past 18 months or so, top cops around the country have been turning over with unusual frequency.

That intensified churn is a product of efforts to reimagine policing in the wake of the murder of George Floyd last year. Amid intense scrutiny from the public 鈥� and spikes in violent crime 鈥� 40 major cities have changed police chiefs since January 2020, says Ms. Cooper. The question: How much churn is too much?

鈥淭o institute culture change and really see reforms come to fruition, it takes a little bit of time,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ith turnover every two or three years, you鈥檙e not going to see it.鈥�

Cities often turn to new police chiefs much like struggling sports teams turn to new head coaches or general managers, hoping to reverse their fortunes. Many police chiefs, in turn, have spread their philosophies as they鈥檝e moved from city to city.

Bill Bratton, for example, controversially pioneered the use of aggressive, data-driven policing to reduce crime over a three-decade career running police departments in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York (twice). Charles Ramsey moved from Chicago to Washington to Philadelphia, developing a model that emphasized community policing and improving recruiting and hiring standards.

In the past 18 months, however, police chiefs have increasingly been leaving not only departments, but also the profession entirely. That鈥檚 partly due to a generation of chiefs reaching retirement age. But some younger, reform-minded police chiefs are being forced out, too.

For 鈥渙ld school鈥� chiefs who are 鈥渦ncomfortable鈥� with increased oversight and questioning about policing, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e making a wise decision by leaving the profession,鈥� says Alex del Carmen, a criminologist at Tarleton State University in Fort Worth, Texas.

But there鈥檚 also 鈥渁n incredible amount of institutional memory leaving the ranks of law enforcement,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭hat concerns me.鈥�

Ms. Cooper says that policing is experiencing a drain of 鈥渢hought leaders.鈥� For example, former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best resigned last August after the city council voted to downsize the department. She said the move would disproportionately harm officers of color she鈥檇 recently hired.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 an instance where you have a good chief, a forward-thinking chief, who鈥檚 dedicated to reform and wants to do the right thing,鈥� says Ms. Cooper, 鈥渁nd she was pushed out.鈥�

Periods of high turnover have happened before.

In 2001, Mary Dodge 鈥� a professor of criminology at the University of Colorado 鈥� co-wrote聽a paper examining what she described as 鈥渁larmingly high rates of police chief turnover.鈥� Chiefs鈥� balancing acts are never easy. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to please the public, the rank-and-file, and the politicians. You can鈥檛 possibly make every constituent happy,鈥� says Professor Dodge.

Cities, departments, and chiefs need to better ensure that a change in top cop isn鈥檛 鈥渁 traumatic event to an organizational culture,鈥� says Professor del Carmen. 聽When a reform-minded chief leaves, the reform process doesn鈥檛 have to leave with them.

In Ferguson, Captain Moss lobbied publicly for one of his assistant chiefs, Frank McCall, to succeed him.

鈥淔rank and I had fashioned that vision [for the department] together,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ad [he] stepped in I think it would have been a smooth transition. 鈥� That would have kept fluidity, consistency and momentum.鈥�

Ferguson officials chose someone else, but earlier this year that chief announced that he was leaving to take over a police department in North Carolina. Assistant Chief McCall, who had stayed on after Captain Moss left, became Ferguson鈥檚 police chief last week.

Ferguson is now on its sixth police chief in six years. That may be too much turnover for one city, but Captain Moss doesn鈥檛 think having churn at the highest ranks of policing in the country is a definitively good or bad thing.

鈥淓very department, every city has to assess what direction they want to go in,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t really depends on the dynamics on the ground, and who you bring in.鈥�

One thing cities should do, he adds, is heed the lesson of another chief of his in Miami: Everybody knows that police officers don鈥檛 study history.

鈥淲e need to be better at learning from [the past] and better at examining those things,鈥� he says, 鈥渋n our profession but [also] on a larger scale.鈥�

That three-legged table, he adds, nationwide, 鈥渋s in a super precarious position right now.鈥�