Pubdate: Fri, 07 Apr 2006
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2006 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Norm Stamper
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Note: Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, is 
the best-selling author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the 
Dark Side of American Policing. He participated in the recent Safe 
Cities conference in Calgary and he wrote this column originally for 
the Calgary Herald.

POLICING IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS

SAFE homes, safe streets and safe communities are goals we strive for daily.

Moving without fear in our neighbourhoods gives us the freedom to 
work, give back to our neighbourhoods and raise our families. Making 
our cities safe, however, requires more than goals and ideals. It 
demands the active participation of everyone. It means community 
policing. Community policing begins with neighbourhoods taking the 
primary responsibility for their own safety.

Rather than building bunkers and gates to ward off crime and 
"undesirables," communities must create authentic partnerships (think 
relationships in which responsibility is shared 50-50) with groups 
and agencies of mutual concern -- including, of course, the local 
police department. Community policing opens avenues for full and 
honest communication -- with joint decision-making and 
problem-solving -- between the police and the citizens they serve.

A major drawback to community policing, however, is the very 
structure of law enforcement agencies in both Canada and the United 
States. Our police departments tend to be paramilitary and 
bureaucratic, an arrangement at odds with true community policing. 
For community policing to be truly effective and efficient, police 
agencies must make deep structural changes within their 
organizations. What we see, certainly in American police departments, 
is a tortuously long chain of command beginning with the beat cop and 
working its way up all the way to the chief (or superintendent). 
Sensitive internal issues such as morale, safety and personnel moves 
must be addressed swiftly, and well. In the U.S., internal 
investigations and discipline can take up to a year to complete. 
There's usually a bureaucratic explanation, but the delay is still 
morally reprehensible and inexcusable.

Justice delayed is justice denied. The entire process needs to be 
overhauled, starting with a much flatter organization. Community 
partners, welcomed into virtually all areas of police operations, can 
make policing more responsive and accountable to neighbourhood needs 
and concerns. There are areas, of course, where citizens shouldn't be 
directly involved, such as intelligence activities, drug raids or any 
other activity that would jeopardize their own safety or the safety 
of officers. Nor should citizens have a direct hand in personnel 
decisions. Having said that, many U.S. communities have had great 
success in using citizen representatives in an advisory capacity.

Citizens, working side by side with their police, help the 
partnership more efficiently and effectively identify and resolve 
obstacles to neighbourhood health and safety. Increasing citizen 
participation shouldn't threaten the integrity of a city's police 
force, but rather strengthen its reputation and standing, both in the 
community and within the larger institution of policing. I can't 
imagine true community policing without civilian review of citizen's 
complaints.

Controversial? You bet. Police officer resistance is based largely on 
a belief that citizens cannot ever fully grasp what a cop goes 
through out there on the streets, and therefore should not be allowed 
to sit in judgment of police actions.

It's time for us to help citizens understand the very tough job of a 
police officer, and to empower a select group of them, working with 
trained investigators (ex-police officers come to mind), to 
investigate allegations of poor service or misconduct.

Perhaps Canada can provide a model of citizen oversight that enjoys 
effectiveness, efficiency and wide credibility. In no event should a 
citizen review board be allowed to deny police officers their due 
process rights, or to otherwise insult individuals whose conduct is 
in question. By working together in a spirit of trust and 
co-operation, police agencies, their unions, and community 
stakeholders can create a powerful and satisfying partnership. After 
all, the goal is the same: safe streets, safe schools, safe homes. 
And a police department that enjoys an outstanding reputation among 
the people it serves.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman