Residents voice concerns about police at Community Conversation
Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed hosted a "Community Conversation" Feb. 25 between residents and leaders of Cleveland's police unions and associations. Bernard L. Buckner writes that part of the problem traces to an outdated Ohio Peace Office Training Commission that has failed to change recommended training protocols as the nature of police work in Ohio's cities has changed.
(Joshua Gunter, Northeast Ohio Media Group)
Systemic failure in the Cleveland police department?
Well let's take a look at the system again.
We keep talking about police "training" in light of the investigation of the Cleveland police. In its findings, the U.S. Department of Justice mentions the word "training" 82 times. So, let's take it to the heart of the problem: the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission.
In the 1960s, to create a standard in Ohio, we created the OPOTC. Who better to know the training the police should have than police?
So seven of the commission's nine slots are filled by police. That was the same mistake the Harvard Business School made when it first thought only businessmen could teach business.
The commission consists of nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Ohio Senate. Each member is named to serve a three-year term. The commission issues recommendations to the Ohio attorney general about matters pertaining to law enforcement training. The Ohio Revised Code requires that the commission's membership comprise two incumbent sheriffs, two incumbent chiefs of police, one representative from the general public, the special agent in charge of one of the field offices of the FBI, a representative of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, a representative of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and a member from the Ohio Department of Education, Trade and Industrial Education Services.
Just one representative is named from the general public. The majority of the commission are police professionals.
Is it any wonder, then, that the focus of the police training curriculum has been on tactics some might call militaristic?
Sir Robert Peel, the founder of modern policing, created the Metropolitan Police in London based on nine principles he developed for law enforcement. The salient point is found in his second principle: "The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions."
How did we get to this point? The OPOTC has become myopic, focusing only on the police officer and not the community being served. There are no classes on customer service or value-added policing.
The term "community policing" is often touted as a panacea for police ills, but since it lacks a formal standard, many people do not know what it means. It has become a sound bite for the media and for people seeking a public platform, but does little to solve the problem and adds more confusion to an already murky issue.
What we have to get back to is the notion and culture of police as peace officers, rather than enforcement agents.
According to the 2013 Case Western Reserve University report, "Police Assisted Referrals: Empowering Law Enforcement to Be First Social Responders," 80 percent of urban police calls are first calls for social service, and fewer than 10 percent are calls about crime.
However, the overwhelming majority of the training and equipment provided to Ohio's police officers is intended to help address the minority of interactions they will face in their responses.
Society has changed and police training must change with it. To help police forces deal with such wide-ranging concerns as cyber crime and behavioral health issues, we must change the training standard and processes.
In my 40 years of involvement -- as a police officer, a police chief and, later, as the safety director of a major Cleveland university -- I've seen the loss of the police chaplain, a role intended to help officers maintain their moral compass and provide an outlet for their concerns and pent-up emotions. I have seen the strategies of verbal de-escalation replaced by an overreliance on the use of technology like Mace and Tasers. We have lost balance.
To return to a state of equilibrium, we need to lay the groundwork for more compassionate, citizen-centric policing. This change needs to start with OPOTC through both the composition of the council's membership and a paradigm shift in the focus of its efforts.
There must be a greater emphasis on the police officer as a supporting member of the community he or she serves. We need to get back to Sir Robert Peel's first principle: "The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder," not to respond to it.
Although we can express our concerns in local "town hall" meetings, sustainable change will come only through training standards that start at the top.
Isn't it time for a new model?
Bernard L. Buckner is chair of the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland, which promotes best practices and effective violence-prevention programs throughout Greater Cleveland.