City and county police departments, large and small, have been in the crosshairs of political left extremists and left-leaning news media for several years. Georgia and especially Atlanta were no exceptions. Attacks against the police have come in the form of efforts to “defund the police,” public exploitation of tragic police use-of-force situations and sensational news coverage of random shootings of police officers.
Meanwhile, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has created chaos in terms of police recruiting and general discontent among the rank-and-file concerning salaries and benefits. As a result, the entire institution of local policing is suffering, and it is taking a toll on the ability of local communities to effectively police themselves.
The police have always had their critics, mainly because uniformed police are the most visible representatives of government. Although most criticisms tend to be exaggerated, some are justified when occasionally internal police accountability systems fail, police leaders fail to lead or officers fail to do the right things. Nevertheless, despite the small number of officers who sometimes tarnish the badge, the police in general continue to hold the line between anarchy and the law-abiding public, and between savagery and civility. Serving as the front line against violence and chaos, the police continue to serve and protect in local communities wherever elected bodies allow them to operate.
Notwithstanding the sustainability of local policing, the intentional erosion of confidence in the police has harmed the institution of policing in two important ways. First, young people who aspire to serve and protect are increasingly discouraged from seeking a career in policing. Second, segments of the community are left wondering if they will be treated fairly if they or their loved ones have encounters with the police. In fact, any erosion of public confidence in the police, caused externally or internally, impacts the overall viability of local policing.
For policing to thrive once again beginning in 2023, local governments and their police departments need to initiate systemic improvements internally and externally. Internally, city and county governments need to do a better job of developing more police leaders who are educated, articulate and competent in their work, as well as value-led and visionary in their leadership skills. Moreover, they must recognize that good police leaders should be politically astute, yet non-political.
Externally, strategic improvements and programmatic upgrades need to occur in police public affairs and public information programs. To this end, the public needs to see and hear about more of the good stories of police officers saving lives and showing acts of compassion and kindness to society’s downtrodden. These kinds of stories, along with stories about police officers working to make communities safer for women and families go a long way toward dispelling negative perceptions of the police. More positive images and perceptions of the police will ultimately reach potential police applicants and vacant positions will begin to evaporate.
In terms of officer accountability, everyone must accept that officers are human and sometimes a small percentage of them misbehave. It should also be no surprise that occasionally, like everyone else, police officers make mistakes. Therefore, they need bright-line rules about malicious behaviors that cannot be tolerated, e.g., lack of truthfulness, racism or sexual misconduct. At the same time, officers must be subject to a fair system of progressive discipline and appropriate corrective action for lesser infractions of rules and policies. In addition, police supervisors’ who are responsible for enforcing accountability measures must also have the courage to confront substandard job performance by officers to rebuild public trust.
Finally, if local police departments– large and small– are to flourish in the future, they must recognize and acknowledge the role of faith in our communities. The police shouldn’t be afraid to understand that the constitutional tenants of separation of church and state were designed to keep government out of religion – not religion out of government. Although religion tends to be marginalized these days, large segments of most communities still quietly worship. Therefore, the police need to engage mainstream faith-based groups, maintain an ongoing dialogue with them and be sensitive to their public safety needs and suggestions.
Internally, for police departments to once again thrive they need to promote the idea of spiritual leadership to recapture the hearts, minds and confidence of the whole communities they serve. After all, what can be wrong with leaders who boldly stand for values like honesty, integrity, respect, loyalty, professionalism and teamwork?
Better, more positive, more accountable police departments will solve both morale and recruitment problems for the police everywhere.
Dan Flynn is a former police chief of Marietta and Savannah.
