Police chief says compassion key to recovery

The police department has had to make concentrated efforts to improve the perceptions of its past.

Starting as a patrolman before moving up the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant and finally chief, Daniel Waterman has recently just completed his first year in the top role for the city’s police department.

Like the city itself, the police department has had to make concentrated efforts to improve the perceptions of its past. It is a crusade Waterman has taken on with enthusiasm.

“Painesville’s not what it used to be, thank God,” he said. “It used to be pretty rough and tumble. We had a reputation that was extremely violent. We had extraordinary crime statistics. There was Painesville and there was the rest of Lake County.”

Waterman said that was only half of the problem as he saw morale issues develop on the police force due to problems with past administrations.

“I’m fortunate to have a good relationship with (City) Council,” he said. “(City Manager) Monica Irelan has been a breath of fresh air.”

Waterman took his promotion to chief as a chance for a fresh start — one that focuses heavily on community policing on a departmental level in order for residents to trust and work with the police, rather than viewing them as an enemy.

“We’re victim-oriented,” he stresses. “We don’t want to be looked at as a cold or callous department. When you do look like that, that’s when sexual assault victims will never come forward because they feel we’re not listening. That should never be the case. We believe every victim until there’s a reason not to.”

Allaying the fears of the community is also of paramount concern for Waterman. With a population that is over 20 percent Hispanic, current political rhetoric regarding immigration and threats of deportation have left a significant psychological mark on many who call Painesville home.

“The biggest challenge for me is recruiting Hispanic officers,” he said. “I’m trying to get officers that reflect the community. I’ve done it with African American officers. We’ve not had much success in attracting Hispanic officers.

“I heard it directly from them, “Do you realize what happens to our reputation in the Hispanic community?’ To them, they think you’re ICE and that you’re going to deport them,” Waterman continued. “Sadly, because of the political climate, the Hispanic community is very afraid. Some, not all but many, are afraid of the police. I think it’s sad that it has to be like that. The only way to reach out is with compassion and dignity.”

Waterman’s awareness to the importance of social diversity started long before he put on his dress blues.

“From 12 to 17, I boxed in East Cleveland in one of the roughest gyms and I was the only white fighter there,” he recalled. “That played a huge impact on my ability to relate with people. That was a very humbling experience. You learn about culture and different people. It was a fly-on-the-wall experience.”

He says his efforts are seeing results in formerly troubled areas like Nebraska Street and the Argonne Arms Apartment complex.

“You never saw kids outside playing there,” he said of Argonne. “They were locked in. Parents were terrified to let them out. We said, ‘No one, no family, regardless of income level, deserves to have their children not be able to go out and play because of fear. We have to do something about this.’”

The “something” came in the form of crime-free housing, a policy that institutes a zero-tolerance eviction policy toward tennents that commit violent or drug-related crimes.

“There was a time when you assaulted your neighbor, you go to jail, get out of jail, and go beat up your neighbor all over again. It was perpetual violence.” Waterman continued, “This, in turn, created a hotbed of violence. Good people would move out and hostile people move in and it only gets worse. These places were not safe. You could just feel it as you drove in.”

As pleased as Waterman is with the positive growth Painesville has seen, he says there is a lot more to be done.

“We’re still wrestling with what kind of drugs are out there and what we can do to address them,” he said. “We know that there has been a shift from heroin to methamphetamines. We’re talking a near 400 percent drop in heroin usage and a like rise in methamphetamines.”

With opioid-related deaths, the immediate concern was saving lives to the point that the department was constantly running out of Narcan. With methamphetamines, Waterman feels that this will move towards enforcement again but he still believes rehabilitation will remain a major factor.

“The courts are moving towards a notion of ‘how can we get this person some help? How can we get them into rehabilitation?’ I agree with that. That’s the right way to go. You’re not going to win this thing by just throwing people in jail.”

“We don’t want to be looked at as a cold or callous department. When you do look like that, that’s when sexual assault victims will never come forward because they feel we’re not listening. That should never be the case. We believe every victim until there’s a reason not to.” — Chief Daniel Waterman

Waterman