McNeely: Let's try problem-solving policing
R.L. McNeely 9:37 p.m. CDT August 19, 2016 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(Photo: Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
I began to write this op-edwith the thought that I would discuss the Sherman Park disturbances from an African-American perspective. That is because blacks and whites often have clashing perspectives on many issues that are puzzling to both races. Amongthese clashing perspectives arediffering perceptions of the nature of violence. After all, is the fact that Milwaukee has been depicted repeatedly by social scientists as the worst city in the nation in which to live for African-Americans not a form of violence?
But I wondered about the value of this sort of discussion at this time. It occurred to me that a much better discussion would be to offer a detailed remedy for a substantive problem that afflicts us all, one way or another. The problem is police misconduct. This misconduct is notwithstanding the fact that many Milwaukee police officers serve with valor and distinction. But did you know that the city had to pay out at least millions ofdollars during the last yearalonefor police misconduct? That amount of money affects us all because it limits what the city can do for us all.
On the other hand, let’s step into the shoes of a typical police officer for a bit. Some of you may be old enough to recall the movie, "The New Centurions,"starring George C. Scott and Stacy Keach. That movie was exceedingly effective in demonstrating the burnout and alienation that afflicts police who must work, day in and day out, with dangerous criminals, with people who are seriously mentally ill, and with those who commit heinous crimes. Imagine the catastrophic circumstances that police officers, having witnessed them, must abide thereafter. Envisioning those circumstances can lead police officers ultimately to be more vulnerable than most of the rest of us to alcoholism, depression, suicide, divorceand interpersonal violence, among other maladies.
So what is the tool that can attack burnout and alienation among police officers and police misconduct while at the same time moving Milwaukee forward? Succinctly put, it requires the police to adopt a “guardian” disposition rather than a “warrior” disposition. It requires them to utilize what is referred to as collaborative police-community problem-solving.
One example of collaborative problem-solving policing, reported in the May, 2015, issue of The Atlantic, involved a neighborhood where copper piping was increasingly being stolen. The police didn’t focus on arresting the perpetrators as much as they focused on working with residents of the community to solve the problem. What they came up with was for homeowners to paint their piping green, accompanied by posting signs stating that the pipes had been painted green. The police also informed scrap yards about the piping being painted which led to a reduction in copper theft. Hence, a victory for the police and for the community, working together.
Another example involved a commercial establishment where it was common for disputes outside the establishment to end in homicides. The police intervened, not by arresting supposedly suspect people standing outside the establishment but, instead, by decreasing the number of people at the establishment. They did this by moving a bus stop farther away and by moving a phone booth farther away. All told, this city’s problem-solving policing was associated with a reduction in felony arrests from 6,367 in 2008 to 3,735 such arrests in 2014. Misdemeanor arrests also dropped dramatically. Fewer arrests meanfewer people in jail, fewer crimesand greatly improved police-community relations.
Butwhat of the police? After much initial resistance, the police in this community (Cincinnati) finally started to buy into the collaborative problem-solving approach. But this required the mayor and others to be absolutely steadfast in their support of the approach during the “push-back” period. The outcome? Police now report that problem-solving policing makes their jobs more pleasant. There’s something in this approach for everyone.
R.L. McNeely is chair of the Felmers O. Chaney Advocacy Board.