No Substitute for Community Policing and High Standards

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You can support law enforcement, civil society etc and be a harsh critic of the current trend. It's not just the equipment, it's the attitude. Everyone is a potential target.

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This spreading negativity is only one symptom of a puzzling paradigm shift our profession is suffering under. We used to be the good guys people aspired to become. Now police academy attendance is at an all-time low, and there are openings in Alaska departments going unfilled.

Our peak popularity followed the community policing movement of 30-some years ago. But unfortunately, community policing died an early death. Van Brocklin’s piece was especially poignant, as some scholars now teach that the 9/11 attacks signaled the beginning of the end of the era of community policing, shifting us in a different era altogether some call Intelligence-Led Policing.

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The bigger shift is local police departments being encouraged to operate more like an intelligence agency, with cops acting more like spies, and trained to be suspicious and untrusting at first glance of everybody around them. Rather than problem-solvers, officers are now encouraged to engage in predictive and proactive policing

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What should we as a profession be doing to stem this tide of losing community trust and respect? The generation of cops hired during the last boom period of generous federal funding is rapidly retiring. I remember when a police department opening brought dozens (I’ve seen hundreds) of applicants. Today there are long-time openings in Alaska departments that seem unfillable. I believe some of our departments are lowering past standards in order to find warm bodies to fill slots.

A presidential commission on law enforcement from as far back as 1967 concluded that law enforcement should require education beyond high school.

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Departments need to evaluate if they have drifted from the community-supported philosophy of partnerships and problem-solving techniques addressing immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. The public needs to support local law enforcement’s commitment by providing for the necessary resources. Community Policing is intensive – the necessary boots on the street are more expensive than the alternative free government surplus equipment.

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In the mid 90's there were over 300 people from across the country who tested for 6 open positions with JPD. It used to be extremely difficult to get on with the Alaska State Troopers as well. I know JPD is having trouble filling open positions now and the AST has 20 unfilled positions. I believe the modern climate of law enforcement isn't appealing to many qualified people not because of perceived inherent danger, but because it's become antagonistic, not "to protect and serve."