ASSOCIATE Magazine FBINAA Q4-2023

Continued from "Changing the Paradigm", on page 9

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) recently pub lished, “Transforming Police Recruit Training: 40 Guiding Principles” (PERF, November 2022), which addresses the need for changes in training protocols. Critical thinking and decision-making are crucial for today’s officer in a complex society that is ever chang ing. The report also recommended “developing recruits’ commu nications skills, critical-thinking capabilities, decision making, and creativity in working with communities to reduce crime and build trust” (p. 70). Centralizing training where possible with a curricu lum that shares core standards from across our country is another consideration included in the study. As a chief, I remember that listening and trusting in those you are responsible for is crucial to community and officer safety. Spe cifically, I remember being at the scene of a “barricade situation” where a suspect wanted on a warrant ran into a home, locked the door, and could be heard drilling screws through the door and into the frame. The normal protocol was to call a SWAT Unit and crisis negotiators after securing the area and evacuating neigh bors. While the crime scene tape was being put up, an experienced patrol officer approached me and said, “Chief, I know this man, it is a warrant for a property crime. He is not violent and I know his and the other neighbor’s routines in my sector. Why don’t we walk away and I will have him in custody in a day or two.” We did exactly that and canceled any escalation and cleared the area. The suspect was in custody in less than 48 hours. Because the patrol officer understood his community and displayed critical-thinking skills the situation was handled in a manner that was safer for the neighborhood. Finally, one of PERF’s comments also recommends to examine the length of police training and education in other countries, which sometimes takes two to three years or more and not weeks or months, as is common in the United States. The men and women serving their states, counties and communities each day, deserve the support they need to be effective. Centralizing or consolidating law enforcement training programs with uniform standards with emphasis on durable skills such as decision Measuring sticks such as Uniformed Crime Reporting are often used to measure effectiveness, but I would challenge you to think of legitimacy within your community being the ultimate gauge of effectiveness. How often do you read about a police chief being fired for too much crime in the city? Now how often do you read about a loss of confidence through scandal – perceived and actual. Former President Obama formed the President’s Task Force on 21st century policing (2015) which declared a need to shift policing mentality from a “Warrior” to that of a “Guardian.” The warrior was defined as an occupying force and is argued to exhibit an “us versus them” mindset. Instead, the report calls for law enforcement to shift to a guardian mentality, which calls for procedurally just tactics to legitimize police efforts. The guardian mentality supports a servient attitude of police engaged with the public. Efforts to build legitimacy go beyond collaboration with stakeholders, providing guardianship to a community means engaging in active feedback from citizens on job performance. The guardian mentality reverses in part traditional crime fighting man tras such as the “War on Drugs” and focuses on the relationship and contacts between members of the public and law enforce ment. Based on a national needs-assessment from the President’s Task Force, law enforcement needs to shift to police practices that

making, critical thinking, and collaboration and most importantly, communication skills are crucial. Changing the training paradigm to one that is collegial and encompasses contemporary as well as advanced adult learning strategies, will provide a stronger foun dation for the challenges of law enforcement personnel today and in the future. References Carter, D.L., Sapp, A.D. and Stephens, D. (1989). The state of police education: policy direction for the 21st century . Washington D.C.: Police Executive Research Forum.

Casio, W.F. (1977). Formal education and police officer performance. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 5, 89-96.

Locke, B., Smith, A., Walker, W. (1969) Authoritarianism in Police College Students and Non-Police College Students. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol 59, (3).

The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1967). Task force report: the police. United States Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C. National Commission (Wickersham Commission) on Law Observance and Enforce ment (1937). Report on police . United States Government Printing Office.

https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/education-offers-best-solution-for-police-mis conduct/?ref=74c466d4414277cdb94828ec57e042bf (Feb 2023)

International Association of Chiefs of Police; Police Use of Force in America (2001)

CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES: Transforming Police Recruit Training: 40 Guiding Principles. Police Executive Research Forum (November 2022)

About the Author: Dr. Ed Guthrie served 29 years in law enforcement starting as a patrol officer and retiring as a Chief of Police. He is a graduate of the 162nd Session of the FBINA and now serves as the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Wilmington University. He is a member of the Maryland/Delaware Chapter of the FBINAA, the Delaware Chiefs of Police Foundation Board, IACP, PERF and the American Council of Academic Deans.

Continued from "What is Your Measuring Stick?", on page 10

help legitimize policing through outreach and transparency with enforcement seen as procedurally just – fair, empathetic, honest, and transparent. The premise of the broken window theory is slum and blight breeds crime; if a community does not care about blight, such as a broken window, then more vandalism, drunkenness, and misdemeanor crime will occur and lead into serious felonious crime. Some policing strategies based on the broken windows theory have proven problematic in distancing or gentrifying parts of the community with heavy enforcement of minor violations. Such strategies tend to encompass the warrior mentality. Zero tolerance or quality of life enforcement strategies were created to combat petty crime and better shake down minor vagrants to stop the broken window effect; these strategies were hailed as a suc cess because they reduced crime. One criticism of quality-of-life enforcement is that it does not address the root causes of most crime and proportionately targets minorities while hampering trust and legitimacy within the community; these policies have had unintended consequences. Police work that relies on enforce

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24 FBINAA.ORG | Q4 2023