The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Mental Health
implicit bias.
Smith said she had just attended “unconscious bias training and found it “so eye-opening,” but noted she volunteered to take the training and it is “not mandatory” for troopers.
Smith said being a police officer “is very stressful. The things we experience are very, very hard.”
As a result, she does not believe there is a stigma attached to using the “Mental Assistance Program” offered by the state police.
Seeking help through that program “is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of great strength, recognition that you can’t keep those emotions bottled up inside you. You need to talk it out.”
Markovich said mental health “is one of the most overlooked issue with police. Departments get busy, they ask officers to work harder, and that means more stress.”
His department has a psychologist and a chaplain to help officers deal with mental health issues, he said.
When coronavirus hit “all the other agencies in borough hall shut down, but not the police. So in addition to answering police calls, we were also answering calls about licensing and inspections and the finance office. That makes for longer hours. Harder hours,” Markovich said.
And as protests and marches following in the wake of Floyd’s death, “there were several weekends that I didn’t allow officers to be off, even though they were scheduled to be off,” he said.
Markovich said he sat down with the department’s minority officers after Floyd’s death to ask them if they needed time or assistance “and they were almost offended when I asked them. They don’t want to be considered separate in any way.” psychological screening for bias of any kind, as well as checking any tattoos an applicant has to “see if they are associated with any known hate groups.”
Butler added that state police applicants also take a polygraph test in an effort to screen out those who may have biases.
“The psychological evaluation is key,” said Markovich. “It normally brings out any issues,” He added that a “stress interview” vets candidates for ethics and honesty “and the polygraph test usually bring out any biases candidates have.”
El-Guemra said state police cadets are also provided with classes in cultural competency, racial profiling awareness and hate crime recognition.
Markovich said he is looking for ways to expand that training for Pottstown officers and is trying to get the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to come to Pottstown and offer training as well.
El-Guemra said if state police receive a complaint that is bias-related, it is investigated by a special discipline office that is trained to “look for patterns of racial profiling.”
Use of Force Vs. DeEscalation
Butler described what state police call “the use of force continuum” for the panel.
First, he said is “our mere presence. We represent an authority figure.” Next comes verbal commands, followed by “control holds to gain compliance.”
This is followed by “less lethal force” and, finally, “deadly force.”
“All steps are progressive and depend on the circumstances, which are always changing,” Butler said.
Markiovich said Pottstown has a “very strict” policy about the use of force and reviewed it in the wake of Floyd’s death. He also said “chokeholds” are not permitted by Pottstown officers and prisoners are regularly checked on to prevent “positional asphyxiation.”
Officers who violate the use of force policy are put on a progressive discipline path that starts with counseling and, if not corrected, proceeds to reprimand and suspension.
When a citizen makes a complaint about an officer, and the complaint is found to be warranted, the citizen is informed of the discipline, said Markovich.
“Using force is very rare in police work,” said Smith. “We’re trained to defuse a situation without using any of the tools on our belt.”
De-escalating a situation often comes with prior work establishing relationships, the police officers said.
“I grew up in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia and I knew people who had a very negative view of law enforcement,” said Butler. “But sometimes, something as simple as a handshake can do the trick.”
“I always encourage our officers to get out of the car and do foot patrols, to talk to people,” Markovich said. “It helps break down the ‘us versus them’ mindset. When I was on patrol, kids would approach you, but with some hesitancy. They want to talk to you.”
In fact the department had teamed up with ArtFusion 19464 for a new program called “Create With a “Cop,” which would pair officers with children to create an art project, “and then cornavirus put that on hold,” Markovich said.
Smith said she has used Big Brother/Big Sister programs to pair children with police officers.
“My sister is in an inner city school and when I first got there, all the kids were like ‘uh oh, somebody’s in trouble,’” she said. “But now they look beyond the uniform and they just call me Kelly.”
Smith added, “the little things help break down those barriers.”
The speakers also advocated for people to attend citizen’s police academies when offered, “to take a walk in our shoes,” said Butler. “I believe that knowledge empowers the community.”
Name Two Things That Will Help
As the session wrapped up, Angela Reynolds CEO of the Greater Pittsburg YWCA asked the panel for some help.
She has been named to that city’s task force on police reform and asked the panelists to make two suggestions for positive change.
“Education and engagement,” said El-Guemra.
“Compassion,” said Butler. “If you operate from a position of compassion, you won’t have misconduct.”
He and Smith advocated for “more listening, more conversation, more inclusion,” as Smith described it.
“There’s a reason we have to ears and one mouth,” said Butler.
“Communication is the key to everything,” said Markovich. “As a police department, we have talked to a lot of people and a lot of people in the community know our officers by name.”
Noting there are all kinds of policing strategies and methodologies, Markovich said he wished there was one called “‘Do the Right Thing Policing.’ You don’t always have to be the authority figure and stand over people. Just treat people the way you would want your family to be treated.”
“As citizens, the number one thing we can do is stay involved, even as the headlines fade,” he said.
The YWCA’s next session is July 8 when participants will discuss the book “White Fragility:Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,”” by Robin DiAngelo.