Police Chief Explodes on Protesters: Pure gut-wrenching emotion ensues
Repost from LinkedIn on November 28, 2014.
Wow, if you don’t think that cops really care about their communities, please watch this video – Here’s two different sources:
- Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn’s take on crime, racial disparities goes viral – JSOnline http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/283504501.html
- White Police Chief Loses It and Tells the Blunt TRUTH About Black Crime [VIDEO] http://conservativetribune.com/police-black-crime/
Unfortunately, what Milwaukee Police Department Chief Flynn said is true (and very sad):
80 percent of my homicide victims every year are African-American. 80 percent of our aggravated assault victims are African-American. 80 percent of our shooting victims who survive their shooting are African-American.
Now they know all about the last three people who have been killed by the Milwaukee Police Department over the last several years but not one of them can name the last three homicide victims we have had in this city.
The fact is the people out here who have the most to say are absolutely MIA when it comes to the true threats facing this community.
The sentiment Chief Flynn so emotionally communicates in his message is similar with what I have said in other – we need to take better care of each other.
When I was little, I lived in NYC. On the edge of an Italian, Puerto Rican, and Greek community in Queens. Honestly, there was no way I could get away with anything close to what young people are doing today. If I tried to swipe something from the neighborhood candy store, that store owner was on the phone to my parents even before I left the store. On the street, my neighbors, my Aunt down the block, and even the postman was watching me.
I just don’t see evidence that neighborhoods today are like that – what I see are neighborhoods who seem to prefer having police officers to do it all, or worse, they turn a blind eye and hope it doesn’t affect them.
I agree with others in my field who believe that we need those affected communities to step-up and take action. Community leaders (with the support and encouragement of local law enforcement) must take responsibility to address the factors in their communities that lead to crime – violent, or otherwise. After all, if the communities themselves are not engaged, how can we possibly expect the police to be successful trying to turn things around on their own?
And, BTW, this is not anything new. This is really what community policing is supposed to be about – no, it’s NOT about putting little kiosks in 7-Elevens. (IMHO) community policing is all about the COMMUNITY getting involved, with the support of local police – I believe a good part of community policing is about the community policing itself.
This theory actually goes back 185 years, to 1829, when Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel, (considered the father of modern policing) penned nine Principles of Policing instructions that he gave to every new police officer. Specifically principle #3 said:
3. To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
These are VERY powerful words; let me break this down for you:
- In order for police to maintain respect and approval of the public…
- They must secure the willing cooperation of the public…
- To help to ensure that laws are observed.
So, for police to be respected, they must work to get communities to police themselves – a very profound statement.
Sadly, without a significant change in perspective on BOTH sides, the current situation will continue – police will do their best to fight crime, but they will not be successful (to the extent that Pell’s principle #9 calls out below) until communities step fully in the game and work to take better care of each other.
I leave you with the full list of Peel’s principles (yes, with the British spellings), and although I am not a police officer, if I were, I think I would still consider all nine of these principles still valid today – text in parentheses on a couple of them is my interpretation:
- To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment. (this is why police forces were formed – interesting that they were formed to PREVENT legal punishment – wow, this could be the subject of another posting)
- To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect. (in today’s always on video world, I would counsel every officer to behave as if there’s a camera on them 24/7)
- To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
- To recognise always that the extent to which the co-operation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.
- To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
- To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective. (I’m not sure getting an MRAP is inline with this principle)
- To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence. (Very interesting quote – “police are the only ones paid full-time to do what every citizen is responsible for doing..wow)
- To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
- To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.
Today’s generation of chidren and young adults are computer savvy. They don’t question how to use the internet or how to install/uninstall programs, they just do it, because they know how. They are constantly text messaging, checking Facebook and Twitter, and taking pictures and videos every day and posting them onto social media sites…and the police forces around the country are following suit.