Posts Tagged ‘current events’

Sep 1108

Policing in a Post-9/11 America

As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is interesting to take a look at how these events have shaped the police profession in the 21st century.  Let’s take a look at how policing has changed since then.

New Threats, New Focus

One of the most obvious changes is in mission focus.  As Secretary Napolitano likes to say, homeland security is hometown security.  Today officers serve as the front line `against another terrorist attack. They carry out traditional police duties while also monitoring and reporting suspicious activity and preparing for disaster scenarios. Infrastructure and facilities that were once just part of the landscape are now potential targets requiring a new level of vigilance. Large departments like NYPD and LAPD even have units devoted to counterterrorism.

Information Sharing

This is arguably one of the most significant changes in the way law enforcement does business.  Prior to 9/11 law enforcement was very much a silo culture where information was viewed as proprietary with little exchange between agencies at the local or national levels.  Today there are massive information sharing initiatives at all levels of government, and there are over 70 fusion centers around the country whose sole purpose is to assimilate and share information.

Interagency Collaboration

Not only is information shared more freely, but so too are resources and staff.  Interagency task forces and work groups are common, bringing together individuals from various law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.  The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is one. Some states and regions have their own local and regional versions.  

Community Relations

Police have always been plugged into their communities. It’s their job, after all.  But the attacks of 9/11 changed things.  Citizens are now called upon to work with law enforcement, lookout for suspicious activity, and if they “see something, say something.”  Additionally, direct relations with the Muslim community have increased.  Many departments have Muslim outreach units to build a rapport and trust with these populations.

Equipment

Radiation detectors and personal protective equipment including biohazard / hazmat suits and gas masks are nearly standard issue.  Interoperable radio equipment that allows agencies to communicate with one another during an emergency is also common. 

 Training

You can’t have snazzy new equipment or assume new missions without proper training.  Since 9/11, law enforcement has been inundated with a variety of terrorism related training, everything from responding to a suicide bomber to firearms qualification wearing gasmasks.  Disaster preparedness training through FEMA’s incident command system may be the single biggest addition to law enforcement training since 9/11, along with training on suspicious activity reporting.

 It is safe to say that September 11th ushered in a new era of policing in America, bringing new demands and challenges to the field.  How did 9/11 change policing in YOUR town?

Apr 1107

Officer Interpersonal Skills and Responding to Victims

For every crime, there is a victim.  Responding to victims and protecting their rights are core elements of law enforcement.  While this may seem like a no-brainer, victims can easily get overlooked in the quest to “catch the bad guys” and solve the crime.   

For those embarking on a career in policing, it is important to recognize that when they respond to a crime, they will also be responding to a victim.  For this reason (and many others), interpersonal skills are essential to effective policing.  Sensitivity to victims is not isolated to the first responder.  Every law enforcement employee, sworn and non sworn, plays a key role in ensuring a victim’s experience with the police and the criminal justice system is as positive as it can be given the circumstances.  This statement from the IACP’s national strategy for Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims sums it up:

“Dispatchers who take emergency calls, officers who respond to these calls, and detectives who investigate crimes are in a position to positively influence the attitudes of crime victims toward the criminal justice process.  Victims who are treated with sensitivity and respect are more likely to cooperate in the investigation.  Ideally, a victim who is comfortable and therefore cooperative with law enforcement can increase the likelihood that perpetrators are arrested and successfully prosecuted.  Depending on the environments and circumstances, victims who believe they have been treated with empathy and respect by law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals are more likely to cooperate with law enforcement and make efforts to  minimize their potential risk of re-victimization.”

Nonetheless, maintaining a fair and balanced approach to victims can be challenging. Consider victims with developmental disabilities, mental illness, or substance abuse problems, and victims who have had multiple victimizations or those whose victimization is the result of participation in criminal activity.  These cases present law enforcement with complicated circumstances and require a measured response.

Next week, April 11 – 16, 2011, is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW).  Sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime since 1981, NCVRW is an annual observance to promote victims’ rights and honor crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.  Events like NCVRW and programs like the IACP’s Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims help to highlight victims’ rights and work to ensure that their needs are met – and met fairness, dignity, and respect. 

Check out the Discover Policing YouTube channel for videos related to law enforcement’s response to victims.

Jun 1015

Do you have what it takes to take the high road?

A study in police/community relations plays out at a Portland coffee shop.

Last month an officer on patrol in Portland stopped in a coffee shop in his district to get some coffee and do a little community policing.  The officer purchased a cup of coffee and was exchanging pleasantries with another patron when the shop owner approached him and asked him to leave, explaining that he did not feel safe in the officer’s presence and neither did his patrons.

The officer quietly left.  As it turned out, the patron the officer had been chatting with was a local freelance writer.  A couple of weeks later, she wrote about the experience on her blog and from there the story took off, appearing in the local news, on CNN (see below), and morphing into its own pro-law enforcement Facebook campaign.

Now, this blog is about careers in policing. At least it’s trying to be. Our goal is to bring people into the profession, not deter them with stories of cops being harangued by coffee shop owners.  All the same, our goal is also to present the full 360 of the job, warts and all.  The reality of police work is that you are sworn to protect and serve everyone, even the citizens who don’t like you, like this shop owner.  This story also illustrates the conflicted view some Americans have toward police.  They say “You can never find a cop when you need one, “ when they mean “I don’t want the police to be visible unless they serve my immediate purpose.” 

Unfortunately, this is what police officers face. 

One news source covering the story ran a poll asking if the manager had the right to ask the officer to leave.  What do you think?  We say sure, he had the right.  This is America, after all.  And it is that right that the officer is sworn to protect. 

Consider too the officer’s reaction.  He took the high road and left, shrugging it off by later stating “It was not personal. He was being hostile to my uniform.”  If you were the officer, would you have reacted similarly?  Do you have what it takes to take the high road?

 Thanks to Matt Kelley from criminaljustice.change.org for bringing this to our attention.