In response to this post, a member of the Branding24seven community who happens to be a police officer asked this blog: “how to stand firmly against hate and discrimination but do the job well?” Given the unprecedented level of upheaval around the country we’ve seen for the past two weeks and the emotional plea we all heard from the Rev. Al Sharpton during the memorial service for George Floyd last week, police departments across America are in desperate need of crisis management. Keep reading to find out what kind of radical change is needed to move forward and help heal a nation on edge.
Welcome back to the JMS blog! As a consulting firm that advises teams how to overcome crises with efficiency and expediency, the JMS team is all too familiar with the panic you all feel. Thankfully, this blog can help you process any concerns you might have because JMS is in the business of designing recovery plans as robust as possible that avoid behavioral and financial paralysis. Today, the JMS team is evaluating the next steps politicians should keep at the forefront the review of police budgets and discipline protocols in the wake of two eventful weeks of civil unrest after America and the world witnessed the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, pinned under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, on May 25th, 2020. In case it’s not clear, this blog believes wholeheartedly that Black Lives Matter!
The reality check: municipal police departments across the country have had a terrible rapport with the Black and Brown communities they are supposed to be protecting and serving for years.
Optics is everything. How many times have we seen an unarmed black person mistreated while in police custody? Today, we are discussing the tragic death of George Floyd. But there were many others! What about Eric Garner who died after being arrested in a chokehold even though he repeated the words “I can’t breathe”11 times in New York City in 2014 (an out-of-court settlement whereby the City of New York paid the Garner family $5.9 million)?
Is it ever acceptable to have anyone die while in police custody? What about Sandra Bland who died by hanging herself in a Texas jail cell in 2015 three days after being arrested during a traffic stop (county jail and police department settled a wrongful death lawsuit with her mother for $1.9 million)?
Why are safety concerns of officers superseding the welfare of the communities they are supposed to protect? Don’t you think that seeing police officers murdering law-abiding citizens is damaging to the psyche of the communities they should serve and protect? What about Philando Castile? A Minnesota Police officer in 2016 fatally shot him during a traffic stop even though he clearly stated that he had a license for his firearm (the City of San Anthony settled a wrongful death lawsuit with his family and the family of the girlfriend left to raise their then four-year-old daughter for $3.8 million)?
How many times have we seen arrests that are questionably justified, especially if racial profiling rather than individual suspicion prompted the arrest, to begin with, but ended in homicides? What about Trayvon Martin (Miami Gardens, Florida in 2012), Tamir Rice (Cleveland, Ohio in 2014), Michael Brown (Ferguson, Missouri in 2014), Breonna Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky in 2020)?
How many more unarmed Black men and women whose name are unknown but have died at the hands of zealous police officers over the past ten, twenty, thirty years before cellphones could capture it for all of us to witness?
Is all just a false narrative? Or is there a real fire behind all of this smoke? It might all be a matter of perception that is not rooted in reality, Dear Police Officers, but Black and Brown communities do not trust you. Point. Period. Not to mention that you’ve had many opportunities to learn from past mistakes, unfortunate incidents, or expensive settlements to institute real behavioral changes to show that you acknowledge your shortcomings and renew your commitment to the safety of all and not just a select few. And their trauma should be acknowledged rather than dismissed. Dear Police Officers, until you dare to listen to the plea of hundreds and thousands of concerned citizens who want to see real changes, the nation will remain divided. Furthermore, the support you seek to accomplish your job will continue to elude you in these communities.
So how do we come together and move forward? Dear Police Officers, change begins with you!
That’s the difference between PR (public relations) and CM (crisis management). PR is outward-looking. Unfortunately, since the public opinion has so soured, there isn’t enough PR to save your sinking ship! CM, however, is inward-looking. Yet, an effective CM strategy is one that accurately targets the necessary connective tissues to bring about real change to the entire system. Thankfully, this blog has two areas to consider as a starting point to begin the long road towards healing.
ONE – Let’s start with the academy.
Is the training matching the reality on the ground? Are recruits receiving the tools they need to learn how to adopt tactical training depending on the situation and community they have sworn to protect? In preparing for this publication, the JMS team learned that the Philadelphia PD has 22 units in addition to well-known special arms such as SWAT or K-9 and perhaps lesser visible ones such as the harbor patrol and a community relations unit.
If there is an entire unit that spends time understanding the nuances between the various communities of our city, amongst other things, why is there such a disconnect between the police and Black & Brown communities? What would happen if the department invested in raising the awareness of recruits as to how they should interact with communities that have historically experienced such a sustained level of trauma? That would certainly improve the bond between the police and Black & Brown people! Indeed, that would go a long way in acclimating probationary officers to stop fearing for their lives every time they arrest unarmed Black men. And it would certainly help seasoned officers extract relevant identifying traits, whenever diffusing over the radio, beyond the generic description of a suspect being a black man in a hoody medium built which gives the license to any cop to stop anyone from high school athletes to Wall street managing partners who happen to be living while Black (e.g., walking, running, breathing).
TWO – Let’s move to culture.
Is there anything more entrenched than this is how we do it here organizational culture? Truth be told, Dear Police Officers, you cannot change the department. The shift must come from the top. Given these challenging times, you might even feel discouraged even though you love the job and have always attempted to do your best. Sadly, it only takes one bad apple to ruin it for everyone else. A few have written the JMS team to share how just low the moral has been.
The only silver lining is that your supervisors are now more open than ever in recent history. Now is the time to offer suggestions you might have hesitated to voice in the past. Be courageous and fight for what you know needs to change. For example, is there a way to encourage police officers to hold each other to the highest standard without resorting to snitch to the Internal Affairs Division or fearing to be in danger of losing their jobs? Or is there a protocol in place to report overzealous colleagues that could one day expose the department to a lawsuit by appearing to trample all over a citizen’s civil rights during an arrest? What are the criteria for deterrence (e.g., at what point is the pay docked to encourage behavioral shift)?
A Few Takeaways!
FIRST, this blog recognizes that the United States of America is a nation of laws. To that end, we will always need you, Dear Police Officers. A nation puts a real emphasis on laws but becomes devoid of a police force is a recipe for anarchy. For that reason, Dear Police Officers, the JMS team encourages you to take a hard look at yourselves and have the courage to fight to do better.
SECOND, this blog does not believe in defunding the police. Living in a constant state of lawlessness is a real nightmare. Refugees from all over the world who manage to make it to our shores, often testify that among chief considerations when deciding whether the time has come to leave their homelands is the speed at which public safety is eroding. We may not like it, but a strong police presence allows residents and businesses to feel safe and secure. If both flee, the city or county will collapse. Police funding is, consequently, a matter of paramount importance when it comes to maintaining thriving communities for all to enjoy a peaceful way of life.
THIRD, this blog believes that the time has come for real police reforms. Can funds be reallocated to shore up the effort of community relations units across the nation? Why not give more funding to encourage more officers to complete more training or obtain some certification to help them police the Black and Brown communities with the same sensibilities they are capable of showing in other more affluent neighborhoods? More funding should also go into mental health services.
In preparing for this article, the JMS team has learned that roughly, roughly one-third of inmates that flow through the Philadelphia Department of Prisons are recidivists who require mental health services. Essentially, inmates only receive the medication and therapy needed when they are in jail. But once they are released, there are no affordable services available to them to follow up with a robust regime of medication and therapy. As a result, many of them will fall back on bad habits and end up returning to prisons. In short, the criminal justice system should not be the primary resource for dealing with people who have mental health issues, even though it often is. More officers could benefit from additional training to learn how to deal with the mentally ill, thus reducing the instances of police shootings of suspects with a history of mental illness.
FOURTH, this blog also believes that we should all do our part, not just the police! If we ask municipal police departments to raise the bar, citizens must also raise the bar. We should all invest in making our communities better. We can all learn to treat each other with respect and a bit more compassion. And we should also take responsibility for our actions. If the destruction of property happens amid peaceful demonstrations, can we denounce a forceful police response? If grandmas, uncles, and aunties cannot have access to lifesaving medications as pharmacies have had to close due to widespread looting sessions that followed well intended peaceful demonstration, can we decry the lack of police assistance? We can all do better! We are all part of the solution!
FINALLY, we are all entitled to our opinion. The First Amendment affords us all the right to express a wide range of opinions, however distasteful it might feel to some. Consequently, we must accept that Drew Brees is entitled to his opinion. Candice Owens is also entitled to her opinion. Even members of the JMS team are entitled to their opinions. In fact, every single one of you Dear Police Officers is entitled to his/her opinion as well! That’s the beauty of Free Speech. Can we keep the level of vitriol we spew as soon as we disagree with someone to a minimum? We are all trying to make it through this crazy thing called life in one piece!
There you have it, Dear Police Officers! The JMS team hopes that we are all committed to living up to the ideals of our constitution. As the nation attempts to move forward, let us humbly remember that we are all human beings, with a checkered history of fractured relationships and lapses of judgment, yet capable of greatness. The Fourteenth Amendment protects all of us equally, as no state shall violate a citizen’s privileges or immunities nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
This blog welcomes any comments or questions you may have. Let us know what else you would like to see from this blog. Please comment section or by email at jms@branding24seven.com or by mail at:
JMStrategy LLC
21 S. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107.
This blog salutes all the good men and women who wear their uniforms with honor and integrity. We appreciate that these are trying times for your department, but your hard work is appreciated. Don’t let a few bad apples ruining it for everyone. You provide a vital service to so many communities! Thank you for everything that you are doing.
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