Leading the Re-positioning of the Police from Law Enforcement Officers to Peace Officers

Re-positioning the public perception of cops as “law enforcement officers” to “peace officers” is about much more than a name change. It represents a fundamental shift in organizational and community beliefs about the purpose of policing. Does the community want its police to focus primarily on the enforcement of laws or on the facilitation of a peaceful community where conflict resolution and alternatives to expensive enforcement sanctions are the first course of action? Accordingly, should enforcement then be a subset of this more collaborative approach? If community interests indicate a shift in policing orientation is desired then what are the strategies leaders need to utilize to realize this new framework?

For strategic efforts aimed at transforming a policing organization to be effective, consideration must be given to leading and managing key components of the transition. Strategic thinking answers the questions “What will the future we will be dealing with look like?” and “How can we affect trends and events to achieve a desired future state?” And similarly, transition management planning answers the question “Given this future state, how do we effectively transform our organization to be what we want?”

Any substantive change effort should include a stakeholder analysis and the development of a critical mass of key stakeholders. Once you know who the stakeholders are, and what their needs and expectations are from your change efforts, you can begin moving them toward the minimum position you need them to occupy to either support your efforts or at least not oppose them. You do this by meeting their needs and expectations and helping them understand the “what’s in it for them” of your goal. Clearly, this may not work with all stakeholders. Some people are just so unreasonable, committed or obsessed with their position that almost nothing will get them to move to a more desirable position. Isolating the potential harm they can cause the transition efforts may regrettably be the best strategy to pursue. 

Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholders are defined as any person or organization whose interest in your issue, proposal or strategy and can potentially affect what you intend to do through their support or opposition. Stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying relevant stakeholders and then analyzing their needs and expectations as they relate to what you are trying to accomplish. Its purpose is to: 1. enlist stakeholder assistance in achieving your goal; 2. Create alignment in their efforts to assist you; and, to identify and correct misunderstandings or conflicts as early as possible.

The most common “needs” of stakeholders include recognition or credit, involvement, information or data. A city’s mayor or city council, for instance, might need to take credit or receive recognition for helping the transformation to a peace officer framework in the police department. The city manager, on the other hand, might simply need information about the transformation process to avoid being surprised or appear uninformed. And union and community leaders might desire input into the change. Satisfying stakeholder needs is critical to their not blocking what you want to achieve. Other policing stakeholders might be the agency line supervisors and middle managers, civilian/professional staff, other city departments, other players in the criminal justice system and crime victims.

Critical Mass

It is vital that transformational leaders, intent on affecting real change, understand the commitment and position on their issue of the individuals and groups constituting the change environment’s “critical mass.” Critical mass is defined as “the smallest number of stakeholders or other groups whose support is necessary for successful change to occur and whose opposition will likely lead to failure.”

The following “Critical Mass Chart” is an example of the critical mass typical of that likely to be encountered in most community’s transitions to the Peace Officer framework. Members of the critical mass are identified and their current positions, and those you hope they will move to, are displayed. Every agency’s critical mass is unique, and any transition effort should be undertaken only after that uniqueness is considered carefully. Accordingly, this model chart is provided simply as a means of giving transformational leaders a place to start in their own transition planning process.

The following individuals and groups are typical of those that should be considered in planning any transition from a traditional law enforcement to a Peace Officer strategy:

• City Council

• City Manager

• Police Union

• Police Management

• Police Chief

• Influential Community/Faith Based Organizations 

• Other components of the criminal justice system

• Other City departments

• Specific Special Interest Group(s)

The Critical Mass Chart displayed below is typical of the nature of “current positions” and “desired positions” for those constituting the critical mass of this issue.

WIIFM

Crucial to persuading members of the critical mass to move to a desired position is their understanding of the transformation’s desired outcomes, the process by which those will be achieved and “what’s in it for me/us” (WIIFM). The “WIIFM Factor” is a candid acknowledgement that human beings are frequently motivated by things that benefit them or make them feel good about their contributions to the issue at hand. In local politics, this is especially true. Since apolitical policing agencies operate in a highly political environment and are governed by elected officials, it makes sense for policing leaders to have a clear understanding of this phenomena and manage it through the transformational process as much as they are able. 

Transition Structure

In substantive organizational change efforts, there are at least three critical leadership roles and responsibilities that should be identified and assigned:

Transition Leader

The member of the agency assuming the high-level leadership role in this transition is referred to as the “Transition Leader.” He/she should provide inspiring, motivational coaching during the organizational process.

Transition Manager

The person with the organizational authority and responsibility for managing day-to-day details of the transformational process

Transition Team

Members of the agency representing a diverse cross-section of the organization who meet to discuss the transition process and progress. They may also carry out tasks to further the transition. Their knowledge of the organization, and peer influence, are critical to aligning the transformational process with the practical realities of the agency and avoiding distracting conflicts.

Conclusion

Efforts focused on articulating a policing model that works for both cops and the communities they are paid to protect, are an essential part of the Peace Officer framework. Discerning stakeholder expectations and needs about policing and highlighting the common ground in policing shared by these stakeholders, is critical to successful organizational change and enhancing the public’s trust and confidence in the police. We can do so without diminishing the nobility of policing nor demonizing the very people we expect to protect us. 

Stakeholder analysis and developing critical mass are requisite techniques used in the effective transformation of policing to the Peace Officer framework. They should become a commonplace strategy used in the wide breadth and scale of change efforts police leaders deal with every day. And they are essential for the development of “policing that works for everybody.”