海角大神

It could have all ended very badly.

After a LaGrange resident鈥檚 car was repossessed, the man鈥檚 entire family 鈥� his son, his son鈥檚 fianc茅e, and their baby 鈥� engaged in a high-speed chase through downtown LaGrange, with the family using another car to chase the person who repossessed their car, weaving through traffic at high speed.聽聽

When police finally stopped the cars, emotions ran high. Their faces deep in concern, the LaGrange Police Department officers talked calmly with all involved until passions subsided.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to remember that everyone involved is human 鈥� and humans get emotional,鈥� said Officer Braxton Willis as the scene cleared. 鈥淧art of our job is managing those emotions.鈥�

Ultimately, peace prevailed. The police arrested the driver for reckless driving, gave the son a ticket for disorderly conduct, and put the fianc茅e, who was having breathing problems, in an ambulance. The baby looked on calmly from the arms of his grandmother, who arrived at the scene after the traffic stop.聽

Three years ago, Officer Willis entered a profession in deep flux as police departments across the United States confronted not just local crime waves but a national uproar on equity and civic rights. Now, Officer Willis鈥� department in this town of 30,000 people about an hour鈥檚 drive outside Atlanta is at the front of that debate 鈥� experimenting with how new policies aimed at addressing race and class disparities can dovetail to produce a more effective force.

At heart of these nationwide efforts are questions around whether policing can live up to its 鈥渟erve and protect鈥� ideals. That takes not just updating rules, but also moving police culture toward more democratic values.

鈥淚鈥檝e started to see some movement on that front,鈥� says sociologist Neil Gross, a former Berkeley, California, police officer who now teaches at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. 鈥淧olice have taken that movement seriously beyond slogans.鈥�

A tale of three cities

In a three-city study of policing in Houston; Tucson, Arizona; and Cambridge, Massachusetts, researchers saw crime drop by 14% in high-crime areas where officers were trained to be more respectful and communicative, according to a report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Another study of door-to-door visits by police officers in New Haven, Connecticut, resulted in greater support by citizens for boosting department funding.

If there鈥檚 progress, that doesn鈥檛 mean experts on criminal justice are entirely happy with trends in U.S. policing. Some departments continue to violate civil rights. The recent sentencing of a 鈥済oon squad鈥� of white officers that tortured Black citizens of Mississippi鈥檚 rural Rankin County is proof of that.聽

Even in places without such horrific behavior, watchdogs say things like racial profiling and excessive force by police remain common.

鈥淭he question ... becomes: What is the definition of 鈥榬espect鈥�?鈥� Michael Collins, senior director of state and local government affairs at the social justice organization Color of Change, says in an email response to questions from the Monitor. U.S. police, he notes, continue to perpetrate violence at world-leading rates, particularly against communities of color. 鈥淭hat is not respect, and anyone in contact with [police] knows it.鈥�

Despite falling U.S. crime rates, public trust in police hasn鈥檛 improved in recent years, according to聽national polling by Gallup. If anything it has declined a bit since the protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota.

Political leaders have squabbled over whether police should be less aggressive or, as former president Donald Trump has suggested, 鈥渘ot be so nice鈥� to suspects.

Yet 鈥渘ice鈥� appears to have some momentum.聽

The power of nice in LaGrange

LaGrange Police Chief Louis Dekmar, now recently retired, went聽on a mission to build trust through good will.聽He is hardly alone.

From California to Tennessee, a policing movement that focuses more on problem-solving and affirming the value of police presence is part of a deeper realization by law enforcement that 鈥渋f we don鈥檛 change, others will do it for us,鈥� as former Chief Dekmar says in an interview.

LaGrange residents agree. 鈥淲e want police,鈥� says LaGrange resident Isaiah Wright.聽But 鈥渨e just don鈥檛 want police who always treat us as suspects of a crime.鈥� 聽

At the core of the effort is not just building trust, but also reestablishing expectations of police 鈥� and how more equitable policing can, in fact, work better for fighting and solving crime, while protecting officers as well.

The 鈥渒inder is better鈥� mantra isn鈥檛 just in police departments. 鈥淲e鈥檙e stronger and better together鈥� is the campaign slogan of a local sheriff candidate here in central Georgia.

Over a dozen Georgia jurisdictions now have units taking what they describe as 鈥渁 social worker approach鈥欌�� to better work with those entangled with law enforcement but who struggle with mental health as well.

Savannah, Georgia, now has more female officers per capita than New Zealand, the nation with the highest percentage of female cops. This old, coastal American city emphasizes how some female officers tend to take a softer approach.

鈥淏ad cop turns good cop鈥� approach

Other cities and counties across the U.S. are also trying this time-tested 鈥渂ad cop turns good cop鈥� approach. Stockton, California; Longmont, Colorado; and New Orleans are all standout cities working to create friendlier police cultures, some experts say, by asking officers to treat others the way they want to be treated. The value of hiring more skilled police officers also seems to be gaining ground. Last year, Alameda, California, began offering $75,000 hiring bonuses to new recruits.

鈥淜indness and understanding 鈥� the same types of traits you want in a best friend 鈥� also work in the domain of law enforcement,鈥� says psychologist 海角大神 Hart, a professor at Texas Woman鈥檚 University in Denton.

What the LaGrange Police Department has shown is not just that better policing is possible, but also how it can be done in a way that drives down crime.聽聽

Some moves are simple. The police department inserted the word 鈥渃ompassion鈥� into its credo. Other policies are aimed at eliminating disparities of class and race when it comes to criminal justice outcomes.聽

Some examples:

• LaGrange allows officers the option of shoot-to-incapacitate an armed attacker instead of aiming for more lethal center mass, the U.S. standard. The policy has saved one life so far.
• The department has worked with auto parts stores to develop a coupon program that serves as a proactive, 鈥渟olve the problem鈥� warning for tail light violations. Hundreds of coupons have been given out, alleviating pressure on the courts and building goodwill.
• The department instituted a confidential 鈥渉andle with care鈥� bulletin that goes out to the local school system when a student has been involved in a police situation, so as not to revictimize innocent people in case they struggle at school as a result. Chief Dekmar says regular such bulletins go out, shielding minors from being victimized.

Talking it out

Wyoming-born and a 鈥淪outherner by choice,鈥� Mr. Dekmar was well into his 30-year career before experiencing a professional epiphany. Even before the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and the national concerns arising out of that 2014 event, Mr. Dekmar was in dialogue with a local outreach committee about police practices.聽聽

In 2017, in an unusual but effective move, Mr. Dekmar apologized to his community, on behalf of local law enforcement, for the 1940 death of Austin Callaway, a young Black man taken from jail and lynched by six white men, a crime abetted by the LaGrange Police. Community heads turned.聽

鈥淯ntil that point, I didn鈥檛 understand how history intertwined with the present in a powerful way,鈥� says Mr. Dekmar. 鈥淚t is incumbent upon police to step forward and start engaging in a way that develops trust.鈥�

David Mixon could be Exhibit A.聽

During a long prison stint for robbery and kidnapping, Mr. Mixon had been called, per policy, by his last name. But when he transferred to the LaGrange Police Department, everybody began calling him David. At first, it made him uncomfortable. Growing up in Atlanta, he had in the 鈥�80s watched police officers brutalize residents.

Fresh starts, new approaches

But the humanity that he felt when the LaGrange officers used his given name became a 鈥渘ew name鈥� moment. A fresh start. It聽 鈥渃hanged my whole outlook on law enforcement as a whole,鈥� he says.聽聽

Now a free man, Mr. Mixon wears police gear as an Animal Control officer. Responding to calls, he offers the same courtesy 鈥� listening to animal owners, educating them, and, as a last resort, writing them a ticket or seizing mistreated animals. It鈥檚 not easy, he admits. 鈥淚t can get crazy out there.鈥�

In the past few years, departments across the country that lean into compassion are seeing results.聽

In LaGrange, during Chief Dekmar鈥檚 tenure, overall crime fell by half. The city鈥檚 murder-solve rate 鈥� often a gauge of police-community cooperation 鈥� has gone from 79% in 2012 to 84% last year. The historic average for surrounding Troup County, which has half as many homicides, was 55% between 1965 and 2022. For nearby Bibb County, it was 68% over that same period.聽

Critics have blasted such approaches as soft on crime and 鈥渨oke,鈥� and voters in many jurisdictions still demand tougher measures.

鈥淏roken windows鈥� policing in the 1990s showed that crime can indeed be deterred by aggressive posture on the street. But it shattered trust in many neighborhoods.聽

鈥淭here is good evidence that when interactions with police improve, crime goes down,鈥� says Professor Gross at Colby. 聽聽

Why that鈥檚 true is not yet fully understood. But it suggests that the issue is not police authority itself but the way authority is exercised. For much of the modern era, police authority in America has been tied to the badge and the gun. But when authority is granted by the community, it can have a noticeable impact.聽

That is 鈥渓egitimate authority ... where everyone recognizes their authority and wants them to have that,鈥� says Professor Hart, the director of the Human Deception Laboratory at Texas Woman鈥檚 University.聽

Back at the road rage incident in LaGrange, the baby鈥檚 grandmother said she didn鈥檛 agree with the charges. But she noted that the local officers had managed a fluid situation well.聽

鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to be better than they were,鈥� she says.