The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Trump must work to strengthen public’s trust in police force
“There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.” — President Trump inauguration speech, Jan. 20, 2017’
Although former President Barack Obama certainly cared about the lives of our nation’s police officers and valued their important role in society, he appeared to hold some inherent suspicions towards law enforcement personnel, particularly in regards to race relations.
And that mindset was exposed early on during his first summer as president, when asked about the controversial arrest of a black Harvard professor by a white Cambridge, Massachusetts, police officer.
“I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that,” Obama said. “But I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, No. 3, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”
Whether fair or not, what it did do was begin to develop a narrative that our president didn’t always have the cops’ backs. That belief carried all the way into this past year’s election when his heir apparent, Hillary Clinton, found her opponent getting an unprecedented endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council. This support reflected an obvious fissure between our executive branch of government and those on the ground who must actually enforce our laws.
Which brings us to our current President Trump and what role he will have upon the future of American policing. He is coming in at a particularly low point when it comes to the morale of our nation’s guardians.
A recent Pew research survey with a sampling of nearly 8,000 cops found some disturbing trend lines. What stood out is that too many of our law enforcement personnel are now reluctant to “shake the bushes,” meaning they are hesitant to stop and question suspicious people.
This is chilling because those interactions result in the prevention of crime. It also revealed that race relations are a major fault line, as our officers sense that their interactions with black Americans are more intense right now. This is especially troubling, as trust with all members of a society is a critical component in any police model.
Couple that with findings of increased concern for their personal safety while expressing more reluctance to use force even when appropriate is a recipe for trouble. So what should our president do to help officers? This is a complex question.
But as this president seems to like following the KIS principle — keep it simple — he could start by heeding the words of Robert Peel, an early reformer of policing, when he said, “The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
By understanding that we are all in this together and that making “America safe again” will require a team effort between the server and the served, he has the chance to use his voice to strengthen the trust that is the glue of any successful police effort.
He has an opportunity to change our current narrative and replace it with a renewed confidence in our public servants.
Tougher laws on predators and new equipment for cops helps, but only when a society believes it is working hand in hand with those tasked with keeping it safe can we really see long-term results. I wish him success, as we will all be safer.