Police chiefs now face an uphill battle
The tragic events, first in Minneapolis, and then across the entire United States over the past two weeks, have again turned the media and political spotlight on policing. The struggle to end police violence, unequal treatment, and the feeble legal response to bad police behaviour. Will this be the moment that will be different? Perhaps, if only due to the scale and breadth of the unrest.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, first told President Trump to “Shut up if you can’t be constructive,” then marched with the protestors, then shook many of their hands and congratulated them. An uplifting moment.
But the solutions to police violence often lie outside chiefs’ control with politicians, judges and regulators loathe to apply equal standards to police criminality as they would eagerly support in the judgment of civilians.
There is a new generation of progressive chiefs, both in big city America and in Canada. They are often men and women of colour, though not always. They share a commitment to two essential principals of urban policing today: that officers entering the station house will be met with a “safe and respectful” workplace. Too often sexual and physical harassment exist beyond those doors. Secondly, that “respectful and equal treatment” of every citizen is a non-negotiable commitment of service for every officer. These chiefs face an uphill battle.
Our provincial police regulators too often follow a political agenda, not a justice goal. Our civilian oversight system is weak, and filled with men and women with good intent but few qualifications for the power their role mandates — and the RCMP has no civilian oversight at all. Our crown attorneys and judges too often appear to treat victims and offenders differently — if the accused is a police officer.
This generation of reform chiefs share insights, try to support each other, and build networks in communities at risk. They attempt to keep their eyes on the farther horizon of building police services that work with and serve communities, with a team of officers that look like those communities. And that the training and supervision of young officers is in the hands of men and women committed to the same values of diversity, equality and respect.
Policing is, by its nature, driven by crisis — a murder, a riot, an abusive officer revealed. Despite larger budgets for policing than ever, there is often less than 15 per cent available for non-salary discretionary spending on training, or mentoring, or building new community building capacity.
They face internal resistance from police unions, about whom the less said the better. Suffice it to say, no other trade union leaders would act as they often do, or see themselves play such destructive roles.
Politicians would be wise to pay less attention to police unions, and more to Police Service Boards, our civilian oversight bodies. Leaders in civil society can reach out to chiefs struggling to deliver change, and ask how they can be supportive. Chiefs should feel comfortable in speaking out, doing the lunch club speaking circuit, and networking with politicians from every government. The information gap of even well-informed community leaders between what they believe policing is, and the much harsher reality facing chiefs and their executive command, is a big part of the problem we face in making progress.
One of this new generation of chiefs likes to say, “Let’s drop that ‘thin blue line’ stuff, and replace it with ‘a strong and resilient blue thread’ that runs from policing through every institution in our communities, becoming an agency of community-bonding not division.” The ‘thin blue line’ implies the threat of bloody chaos on the other side without the power of tough policing to keep it at bay. Not really an appropriate image for police services today to offer as their branding.
Canadian Chiefs have stepped up their international engagement, working with U.K. and other countries’ police services to share experience and tips. Sadly, it is hard to see what our police could learn from their colleagues to the south — except, perhaps, what warning signals to look out for and to avoid.