It’s time for a new idea to attack crime, probation

To the Times:

We need to rethink the way we handle crime and supervision

During my years as a Philadelphia police officer, I learned a lot about our criminal justice system. I saw what worked and what didn’t when it came to handling crime in our neighborhoods, and realized there was much that needed to be changed – starting by fixing our broken probation system.

As an officer, I saw firsthand the effects our broken probation system has on our neighborhoods. Too many families are torn apart as parents and children go in and out of prison. I have seen minor offenders get stuck in the system because they cannot afford to pay bail or because they commit a technical violation which causes them to be reincarcerated and have to start the process all over.

As it stands, our system is ineffective, expensive to taxpayers, and does little to actually make our communities safer.

Legislation like the Smart Probation and Parole Act will help address the problems we see in our supervision system by incentivizing good time and earned time, eliminating some technical violations, and focusing on rehabilitation rather than reentry.

Just as important as reforming our probation system is changing the way we teach our officers before they even get on the streets.

Throughout my time on the force, I was guided by my belief that it’s the job of law enforcement officials to cultivate strong relations with the communities they serve. As a child, I remember police officers spending time in my neighborhood – not because there was a crime – but simply to come speak with us. They would talk to my father about cars, or see if we as a community had any concerns. When I joined the force, I vowed to take the same approach. I viewed my time in the community creating relationships with citizens as one of the most important aspects of my job.

But that wasn’t taught to me in the police academy. Too often, police officers and citizens alike have an “us versus them” mentality. We are taught to both fear the criminal, and to have the criminal fear us. That’s why I think it’s imperative that in order to fix our criminal justice system, we need to rethink the way things are handled both at the legislative level and at the police academy.

That is why we must personalize the process in the police academy and recognize that these offenders aren’t just criminals — they are children, parents, neighbors, and friends who need our help. We need to teach our officers how to better handle community relations, so our citizens feel comfortable interacting with us. I believe through building strong relationships between our law enforcement and our neighborhoods, we can make communities safer and ensure fewer citizens get stuck in an ineffective system.

My experiences in the police force have led me to believe that our criminal justice system needs reform. But if we truly want safer communities and lower rates of supervision, we need to address the issues at every level — from legislative to law enforcement. Until we change the way we teach our officers at the police academy, we will not see true and lasting progress on criminal justice.

“These offenders aren’t just criminals — they are children, parents, neighbors, and friends who need our help.”

— Wesley Hatton