The True Purpose of Policing
When we consider the “true” purpose of policing in America I think it’s important to focus on the essence of that thought. “Preventing crime and disorder” might fit the definition most people could accept. It’s concise, straightforward and evokes multiple images of police in action. And this last point in where the confusion lies. For some people, preventing crime simply means enforcing the laws. After all, we have laws for a reason, don’t we? Just enforce them and that will create a deterring effect that will reduce crime. For others, prevention means addressing the societal factors that create the conditions for crime. Things like high quality preschool for all kids. Or positive, prosocial activities for teens in those critical after-school hours. Or helping formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into the community after their release on parole or probation to intervene in their criminal behavior.
In our increasingly divisive society, many assume a “zero sum” approach to controlling crime and disorder beliefs. For them, it’s an either/or orientation. You’re either hard on crime or soft on it. Your view is either heartless or compassionate. There’s no middle ground. We rarely focus on an approach that might find the common ground in both perspectives. Like so many issues today, ideology frequently affects our beliefs. Rarely do we look at crime control through a scientific lens. Rarely do we commit to being smart on crime.
Assuming all people arrested should be dealt with under the full extent of the law (“if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime!”) means many people who can desist further criminal behavior will be schooled in jail/prison graduate programs in criminal behavior and come out of incarceration more skilled as criminals than when they went in. The majority of people thrown into the system are not sociopathic career criminals (at least initially) and would have probably responded well to evidence-based programs designed to reduce the impacts of extreme poverty, helped them succeed in school, provided training and support to their parent(s)/caregiver in effective parenting skills and made life skills and realistic job training available to them so once out of school, they had a reasonable chance at success. On the other hand, assuming sociopathic predators/career criminals are amenable to “softer” approaches to crime reduction simply means they’ll victimize more people by taking advantage of criminal justice reforms that reduce accountability. Some people are so dangerous we just need to isolate them from society for a long time.
What we desperately need is an approach to controlling crime and disorder that is focused first, on desired outcomes, and second, on the types of evidence-based programs that have been proven effective at producing the crime control outcomes we seek. We need policing that also has a heart. Policing is entirely a people business. As such, we would do well to remember that, in the final analysis, “only people count.” The best cops I have ever know have had big hearts for the people they encountered. They never checked their humanity at the station house door and always treated people with compassion, dignity and respect. Even if they were arresting them. And we can never forget that America’s forefathers created an incredible living document that has met the test of time – the United States Constitution. Every cop in America takes an oath when hired in which they swear to uphold the principles embodied by the Constitution. Unfortunately, not every cop remembers that.
Essentially, we need a policing model that is based on the notion that policing must be effective, empathetic and just. When we unpack the meaning of that phrase it’s clear that the police must use the best available evidence about what works to control crime and disorder. They must solve the crimes they can’t prevent. And they must be good stewards of the taxpayer investment in public safety as they do so.
The police must also be empathetic in carrying out justice. Humans are flawed. They make bad decisions that frequently cause harm to themselves and others. And while some are downright evil, mostly people behave in a manner consistent with their upbringing and their individual resilience to the crap life has thrown at them. Being able to understand the perspectives of others is a core policing competency.
And finally, the police must ensure their actions always follow the constitutional guidelines put forth by our founders and further refined through judicial interpretation. When they engage in unconstitutional behavior, it’s no longer about the offender. It’s about the cop. And due to the prevalence of smart phones, the Internet and social media, and the light speed at which images now travel, location means nothing and individual acts of misconduct in a specific place transform into indictments about policing everywhere.
Policing in America today is a complicated process. And it’s going to get more so in the future. Economic, health, educational and sentencing disparities, climate change, rapid societal change and technology that is advancing at an exponential rate are combining to create the most challenging period in the history of policing. And until we acquire a collective agreement on what the true purpose of policing is in this country, the pressure this places on the very fabric of America will continue to build. It is not hard to imagine the nation-wide protests we witnessed after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis being repeated. When images of a horrific act of police misconduct go viral again, and the right social conditions exist, we should not be surprised to see people express their outrage and frustration with a system that repeats the same police reform promises.
Policing must grapple with the very large elephant in the room – policing’s culture and a lack of clarity around policing’s purpose. Past police reforms are important and needed. In so many ways, policing is better today than it was even a few years ago. However, in the minds of an increasingly segment of Americans, their trust and confidence in policing is either flattening or decreasing. And this is exacerbated by the fact that the police still kill about 1000 people a year. Despite all our reform efforts.
The first step in advancing organizational culture as complicated policing’s is for us all to get clear on the purpose of policing and what that phrase means. I believe the true purpose of policing in America is to prevent crime and disorder. And the police will fulfill their sacred obligation to the people they are paid to protect by being community guardians whose daily commitment is to engage in policing that is effective, empathetic and just.
