Black police chiefs try to mend relations broken in deaths

April marked five years since the officerinvolved shooting death of unarmed motorist Walter Scott of North Charleston, South Carolina. Just two weeks later, 25-year-old Freddie Gray sustained fatal spinal cord injuries while in a Baltimore police van.

Both deaths led to a series of ongoing, national conversations related to race, police use of force, inequality and the fractured relationships between minority communities and their local governments.

Although both the Baltimore and North Charleston police departments have faced their share of challenges and scrutiny since these incidents, the cities’ local leaders are working tirelessly to build and implement several programs to encourage law enforcement accountability, improve procedures and offer additional guidance and training to police officers. All in the hopes of obtaining and sustaining stronger officer and community bonds.

To support these law enforcement agencies and many others across the country, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) provides policing training, community engagement strategies and peer-to-peer mentoring to police departments and sheriff’s offices. The collaboration between NOBLE and these agencies is an integral part to building trust and transparency in policing to make a positive change in communities.

Reform and effective crime fighting are inextricably linked, and the need to deliver both right now will save lives. Part of both cities’ policing efforts include the development and implementation of a five-year crime reduction and department transformation plan — a clear, comprehensive vision to increase operational effectiveness and efficiency and improve police-community relations.

Using 21st century policing principles and best practices, the collaborators’ goals are to advance procedures and establish the framework for strengthening relationships with the communities they serve. For example, new strategic policies to protect against disproportionate use of force, unwarranted stops, searches and arrests; methods to safeguard fair and impartial policing; and a multitude of other topics and detailed approaches serve to guide officers on how to carry out their duties effectively to address public safety and build police legitimacy.

Policies and plans are essential foundations for reform, but effective training to assure policies are applied is equally critical to successful implementation of longlasting change. The departments’ modernized training is designed to include techniques and scenarios-based learning models to ensure officers can translate new practices directly into their daily work.

While the challenges facing these departments are great, so are the opportunities. Supported by NOBLE programs like The Law and Your Community, a nationally recognized hands-on interactive training program for young people, leaders in both cities understand that good policing is about three things: building relationships, improving good relationships and repairing broken ones. Good policing is characterized by developing positive relationships with community members — no matter who they are, where they live, or what they do for a living. These trust-based relationships are essential to build safer communities nationwide.

In all, both departments are moving on multiple fronts to give officers the tools they need to succeed while building stronger systems of accountability. Every day, in these ways and many more, the officers work to build community trust and a safer Baltimore and North Charleston.

Five years may have passed since Walter Scott and Freddie Gray died but the impact of their lives on community policing has continued to serve as a catalyst of change. From traffic stops to transportation or detainment, NOBLE chiefs continue to lead the charge to effect equity and justice in public safety.