Mending broken trust: Police and the communities they serve | Charles Ramsey | TEDxPhiladelphia
Summary
TLDRIn this speech, a veteran police officer with 47 years of experience discusses the challenges facing modern policing, including the loss of trust in communities, particularly among people of color. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the history of policing, from its early roots to the present, and acknowledges the profession's past mistakes. The speaker advocates for a shift from a 'warrior' to a 'guardian' mentality, stresses the need to address biases, and calls for collective action to build safer, more respectful communities.
Takeaways
- 👮♂️ The speaker has 47 years of experience in policing, including serving in the Chicago Police Department, as police chief in Washington DC, and currently in Philadelphia.
- 📺 The current environment of policing is challenging, with frequent media coverage of police actions that can erode public trust.
- 🔍 There's a historical context to the mistrust between police and communities, especially communities of color, which has been an ongoing issue.
- 🏛️ The history of policing in the U.S. is complex, with roots in practices that were not always just, such as tracking down escaped slaves.
- 👨🏫 The speaker initiated a training program with the National Constitution Center to educate officers on the history of policing and its evolution.
- 📉 Policing strategies like CompStat have contributed to reduced crime rates, but at the cost of community trust due to aggressive tactics.
- 🔄 The speaker advocates for a shift from a 'warrior' to a 'guardian' mentality in policing, emphasizing service and protection over confrontation.
- 🧠 Addressing bias is crucial in policing, and the speaker's department is implementing training to manage biases and ensure fair and impartial policing.
- 🤝 Building trust with communities is essential, and this requires respect for individuals' dignity and self-respect in all police interactions.
- 👥 The responsibility for improving police-community relations falls on both police and community members, requiring collective effort and understanding.
Q & A
How many years of policing experience does the speaker have?
-The speaker has 47 years of experience in policing.
In which city did the speaker serve as a police chief after leaving the Chicago Police Department?
-The speaker served as a police chief in Washington DC after leaving the Chicago Police Department.
What is the significance of the speaker's visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum?
-The speaker's visit to the museum was significant because it made him realize the role police can play in horrific events and sparked a reflection on the role of police in a democratic society.
What historical perspective does the speaker believe is important for police officers to understand?
-The speaker believes it's important for police officers to understand the history of policing, including its origins, evolution, and the fact that police have not always stood on the right side of justice.
What is the role of the police in a democratic society according to the speaker?
-According to the speaker, the role of the police in a democratic society is not only to enforce laws but also to defend the constitutional rights of all people.
What is the 'thin blue line' metaphor and how does the speaker view it?
-The 'thin blue line' metaphor is a concept that suggests police separate good from evil. The speaker rejects this view, preferring to see police as a thread woven throughout communities, protecting the rights of all, including those accused of crimes.
What is the importance of respecting people's dignity and self-respect in policing according to the speaker?
-The speaker emphasizes that respecting people's dignity and self-respect is crucial in policing because it maintains trust and prevents alienation, which is key to effective community relations.
What is the significance of the story about Paris Patton shared by the speaker?
-The story about Paris Patton illustrates the importance of maintaining calm and respecting people's dignity during police interactions, which can help in de-escalating situations and building community trust.
What is the speaker's view on the current state of policing and community relations?
-The speaker views the current state of policing and community relations as strained, with a need for collective effort to address the disproportionate amount of crime in certain communities and to rebuild trust.
What does the speaker suggest as a solution to improve policing strategies and community relations?
-The speaker suggests moving away from aggressive policing tactics, embracing a guardian mentality, and focusing on building relationships and trust within communities.
Outlines
👮♂️ Policing Challenges and Trust Building
The speaker, a veteran police officer with 47 years of experience, discusses the current challenges in policing and the importance of building trust within communities. He reflects on his long career, which includes serving in the Chicago Police Department and as police chief in Washington DC and Philadelphia. He acknowledges the alarming incidents of police misconduct shown on the news and the historical tension between police and communities, particularly communities of color. The speaker emphasizes the need to understand the history of policing and its evolution alongside democracy, suggesting that education on this history is crucial for both new and veteran officers.
📚 The Role of History in Policing
The speaker delves into the historical context of policing in the United States, highlighting the evolution from unpaid watchmen to a formalized police force. He discusses the Philadelphia Police Department's history dating back to 1797 and the earlier roles of watchmen and constables. The speaker initiated a program with the National Constitution Center to educate officers on the historical development of policing and its connection to the broader evolution of democracy. He stresses the importance of understanding history to address current mistrust and to recognize that police have not always been on the 'right side of justice,' which affects community relations.
🔍 The Impact of Policing Strategies
The speaker critiques the policing strategies that have been used over the years, particularly in response to soaring crime rates. He discusses the shift from community-oriented policing to more aggressive tactics, such as CompStat, which led to significant reductions in crime but also caused collateral damage in communities. The speaker argues that while crime reduction is important, it should not be the sole measure of success, as community trust and the presence of justice are equally vital. He calls for a reevaluation of policing strategies to balance crime reduction with community relations and respect.
🛡️ Shifting Police Mindset and Addressing Bias
The speaker advocates for a change in the police mindset from a 'warrior' to a 'guardian' mentality, emphasizing the importance of protecting constitutional rights and serving the community. He introduces the concept of viewing police not as a 'thin blue line' separating good and evil but as a thread woven through communities, upholding democracy. The speaker discusses the need to manage personal biases and to treat all individuals with respect and dignity. He shares a story about an officer who valued the inherent dignity in every person, regardless of their circumstances, and the importance of preserving that dignity in police interactions.
🤝 Collective Effort for Community Safety
In the final paragraph, the speaker calls for a collective effort to address the issues of crime and violence in communities. He stresses the need for police to be held accountable and for society to work together to create safe and secure environments for all. The speaker acknowledges the burden on police leaders but also recognizes the responsibility of the community in solving these problems. He concludes by thanking the audience for their attention and emphasizing the shared responsibility in improving policing and community relations.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Policing
💡Trust
💡Community Oriented Policing
💡CompStat
💡Warrior Mentality
💡Guardian Mentality
💡Bias
💡Accountability
💡Collateral Damage
💡Thin Blue Line
💡Dignity and Self-Respect
Highlights
The speaker has 47 years of experience in policing and acknowledges the current challenges faced by the profession.
The speaker discusses the impact of police actions on community trust and the importance of building trust, especially in communities of color.
A historical perspective on policing is provided, highlighting the evolution from unpaid watchmen to modern police forces.
The role of police in enforcing Jim Crow laws and the impact on community relations is examined.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the history of policing to address current issues of mistrust.
The concept of police as a 'thin blue line' is critiqued, advocating for a more integrated role within communities.
The speaker shares a personal experience visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and its influence on his perspective on policing.
The importance of police defending the constitutional rights of all people is highlighted.
The speaker discusses the shift from community-oriented policing to data-driven approaches like CompStat and its effects on crime reduction.
The collateral damage caused by aggressive policing tactics and the need to consider community attitudes is acknowledged.
The idea of moving from a 'warrior mentality' to a 'guardian mentality' in policing is introduced.
The necessity of managing personal biases in policing to ensure fair and impartial treatment is emphasized.
The speaker calls for a collective effort to address the disproportionate amount of crime in certain communities.
The importance of respecting the dignity and self-respect of individuals during police interactions is discussed.
The speaker concludes by stressing the shared responsibility of police and communities in improving relations and safety.
Transcripts
it's really an honor to be here with you
today and in the brief time that we have
together I do want to talk about some of
the issues affecting policing today it
was mentioned that I have served for a
long period of time in policing I'm in
my 47th year I spent I'm native
Chicagoan born and raised I spent 30
years as a member of the Chicago Police
Department I left to become police chief
in Washington DC I served there for nine
years and now I've had the honor and
privilege of serving under Mayor Michael
Nutter here in the great city of
Philadelphia for the last seven and a
half years so I've got a lot of
experience and I've gone through a lot
of transitions that is that that have
taken place over the course of my career
in the profession of policing but I have
to admit that I have not experienced
anything quite as challenging as where
we find ourselves today all you have to
do is turn on the nightly news or watch
one of the cable broadcasts and I can
almost guarantee you that you're going
to see a video from somewhere in the
United States showing an action being
taken by a police officer somewhere that
quite frankly in some instances I find
to be appalling that's the environment
that we find ourselves in today and all
that affects our ability to build trust
in many communities now there's been a
lot of talk about trust in communities
particularly communities of color let me
start off by saying that when I started
my policing career in the late 1960s
early 1970s in Chicago there were some
communities that we went into where
there was tension where we didn't get
anybody willing to talk to us about what
may have taken place or what have you so
it's been something that's really been
bubbling beneath the surface for a long
period of time and occasionally it does
boil over I mean if you those of you old
enough
to remember some of the you know the
riots that we've had in various cities
around the country some of it starts
through actions of police that get out
of control and we wind up with civil
unrest as a result so even though this
is this is something that maybe we've
experienced in the past I don't think
we've experienced it quite like we are
today and that's what I want to talk
about there are two areas I want to
cover this is a complex issue and
certainly takes a lot more time than
what we have allotted here but I just
want to cover a couple things that I
think maybe is a part of what we see
going on and then also come up with a
couple of ideas on how we can repair the
damage the first is history the history
of policing in the United States when we
really go back in time and not in
Philadelphia was the Philadelphia Police
Department was organized in in 1797
we're the oldest police department in
the United States of America but
policing actually goes back even further
than that I mean there was a period of
time when you had unpaid watchman
constables just walking down the street
trying to keep neighborhoods as safe as
they could you had people that were
police that worked on plantations their
job was to track down slaves that had
run away so one of the things that we
started doing here just recently in
Philadelphia was beginning a program
with the National Constitution Center
right here in Philadelphia because what
I wanted to do was create a training
program that really talked about history
now the National Constitution Center
obviously is there to really talk about
the Constitution how our democracy has
evolved all those kinds of things but
just as our democracy has evolved so has
policing and I think it's important for
our young people coming into the
profession including our veteran
officers that have been around for a
while to understand that his
so it starts with a discussion around
1776 when the Declaration of
Independence was signed and it's not so
much a history lesson of how our Union
came to be what it is but it's also a
snapshot in time where we talk about if
you were policemen during that period of
time what are some of the things you
might have been doing well as I said
before you may be you were just the
watchman walking down the street trying
to make sure that the doors were locked
or whatever and people were were safe
and secure but you might have been one
of those individuals chasing down slaves
fast forward to the civil rights period
of time who was it that was enforcing
Jim Crow laws of the time who was it
that people encountered on Bloody Sunday
when they walked across that bridge
police I think it's important for us to
know the history and to understand that
police have not always stood on the
right side of justice as we define to
justice today it's just a reality
and whereas I'd like to think we have
evolved we and we have but there are
still a lot of baggage that we carry and
so when you look at different
communities and you wonder why there's
mistrust do you wonder why you know
people really are afraid of police a lot
of it has to do with history when I was
police chief in Washington DC we had
communities that immigrant communities
first generation that had come to our
city many from Central America no matter
what the situation if they were a victim
of a crime knew about a crime or
whatever they often would not call the
police why because police in their
country were incredibly oppressive and
they were afraid so it's not just
policing in the United States we need to
think about and the impact it has on
communities it's actually elsewhere in
1998 when I was chief in DC I had
occasion to visit the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum it was just
one of those things on my schedule I was
a brand new chief and everybody's trying
to get to know you and a good someone
who turned out to be a very good friend
of mine David Friedman from the
anti-defamation league invited me to
visit the museum so I went it was
absolutely the most powerful experience
I had had to that date to that point in
time and when I left there because I was
being accompanied by an actual survivor
and as we were going through the museum
she's actually telling me her personal
story her and her family during that
period of time
so when I left there and I was going to
catch a plane to fly to Chicago to visit
family but I was really haunted by that
experience so I came back about a week
later unannounced where I could take my
time and walk through the museum and
then I began to understand what was
bothering me many of the pictures and
those of you that have been to that
museum the pictures that you see there
oftentimes include police officers
working alongside soldiers participating
in those horrific events that took place
now I never knew that I didn't know it
maybe I mean when I went through school
Highschool the Holocaust was glossed
over it was part of history but nobody
spent any time talking about it believe
me
of course history was my favorite
subject I might not have been paying
attention but in any event I didn't know
I knew about the whole cost but I didn't
know about the role of police and it
made me start thinking Germany had been
a democratic society what happened they
probably took an oath very similar to
the one that I took so what happened how
could they possibly then be involved and
not just rounding up Jews but actually
participating in death squads on death
squads and and and so forth and I just
couldn't get my head around it but then
it sparked an idea what is the role of
police in a democratic society if you
ask the average police officer what
their role is most of them would say to
enforce the laws yet that is a very very
narrow part of what we do as police how
many of them do you think would actually
say that their role is to defend the
constitutional rights of all people if
we had police in this country believe it
and conduct themselves in a manner
consistent with that would we be having
the problems we're having today I don't
think so
so by taking that walk through history
because we've already tried doing the so
called sensitivity training something
that I absolutely hate that term is it
implies that you're insensitive or you
go in there with the with the
presumption that you know the white cops
are all racists and bla bla but people
shut down they don't want to hear that
kind of stuff but it's a backdoor
approach toward getting it many of the
legitimate issues that confront us today
one of the photographs for an example or
as a soldier and a police officer going
through a Jewish man and the first thing
it reminded me of was stop and frisk I
mean the lessons go on and on and I'm
not trying to say police or Nazis or
police are involved in that sort of
thing but it's about the Constitution
it's about protecting people's rights
and that's the message we try to get
through to people as part of this
training that we're doing at the
National Constitution Center the other
thing that I think is important it kind
of got us to where we are today are
quite frankly to policing strategies
that we've used I saw an earlier
presentation when they talked about the
80s and the 90s I went through that when
crime was soaring through the roof and
I'm telling you there was an awful lot
oppression from pressure from political
leadership and also from communities get
a handle on crime we were just beginning
to engage in something called community
oriented policing which would bring
police and community closer together
engage in color and collaborative
problem-solving and all these kinds of
things and was it good yeah absolutely
it built much better relationships in
many of our communities but was a little
slow in terms of actually being able to
see that reduction in crime and let's
face it at the end of the year when you
pick up the newspaper or if you turn on
television and they're talking about
crime in Philly Baltimore or anywhere
else what are they showing one Staten
wants that only how many murders did you
have if your murders up crimes out of
control murders are down fantastic great
job I can have my job another year
probably but is that really the
barometer that we ought to be using to
determine safe and secure neighborhoods
I would argue that it's really not
people want more
so we went from community oriented
policing and then we all started looking
at New York City where they went into
something called CompStat which is a
data-driven approach to dealing with
crime and they had dramatic dramatic
reductions in crime so everyone started
saying how come you aren't doing what
they're doing there
so across America we all started getting
information systems we all started
looking at dots on a map we all started
looking at our deployments and how we're
putting cops in the areas where we have
the most crime and so forth and then we
all started to see drops in crime I mean
we are at the lowest level of crime in
this country in most cities since the
late 1950s and 1919 60s that's pretty
dramatic folks pretty traumatic but
here's the problem we didn't think about
the collateral damage we were causing in
many of these communities by some of the
aggressive policing tactics we also I
think misunderstood what people really
want sure they want safe and secure
neighborhoods but they don't measure
success solely by the absence of crime
they also want to see the presence of
justice in communities we missed that
so we started looking at these maps we
got all the docs and we got all these
things and we're driving down crime and
everybody's patting us on the back oh
yeah you're doing a great job so forth
and so on but it's very important and
I'm not saying that's a bad approach
it's not I mean there's criticism about
broken windows taking care of smaller
crimes and that sort of thing well
that's what people complain about you
live in these neighborhoods you're
concerned about quality of life our
problem was we didn't have a strategy in
place on what to do once the window was
repaired and if what you're doing is
effective eventually it's no longer
broken so do you use the same strategies
you use to get it to a manageable point
in time or do you start to then engage
more one of my deputies mentioned that
whereas we have a lot of research being
done on the various kinds of policing
and it seems like every time we come up
with a new strategy we got a we got to
come up with a name for it so it's like
hot spot policing or problem oriented
policing or what everybody's got to kind
of put a label on something and these
are effective strategies because it does
reduce crime but we don't measure again
what's the attitude of people in that
community once we leave if we make a
hundred stops of individuals in an area
looking for weapons we find one weapon
that's good we got one gun off the
street but now we've alienated perhaps
99 others who wins in that one it sure
as heck ain't us so we need to kind of
rethink and not that we don't want to
continue to do things that are proven
but we've got to build those
relationships you've got to build that
trust we've got to do the things we need
to do to bring the community along with
us and also accept the fact that some
community certain things just aren't
acceptable and that's fine we're public
servants we have to I mean we have to
have a surface mentality so it's history
it's about the kinds of strategies but
it's also about mindset and I'm talking
about mindset of police community
mindset needs to change a little bit too
but I'm not going to talk about
that I'm going to talk about police
specifically you probably have heard
some talk about how we need to move from
a warrior mentality to a guardian
mentality I agree with that we're not at
war with anybody we're there to protect
we're there to serve that's fine but
there's got to go beyond that because
how we see ourselves really drives how
we behave I'll give you an example
there's a metaphor and policing and all
of you probably heard it it's called a
thin blue line I don't think is anybody
in here probably hadn't heard that use
back and forth never really gave it any
real thought but you know I bought into
it as a young cop after my visit to the
Holocaust Museum I said no we're not a
thin blue line not a line of any kind we
aren't we aren't something that
separates good from evil I see us as
more of a thread woven throughout the
communities that we serve helping to
hold together the very fabric of
democracy and we have as much
responsibility protecting the rights of
those that have committed or accused of
committing in crime as we do law abiding
people who are just the victims of crime
that's our responsibility as police
so we get away from that us-against-them
type of mentality the other thing we
have to do is deal with the real issue
of bias now we've started new training
in our department fair and impartial
policing dr. Laurie Friedel from the
University of South Florida has a great
program we've had her up we're in the
process of doing that now recognizing
that everyone has a bias of some kind
could be gender could be sexual
orientation could be race could be
political affiliation could be a lot of
things the real question for us is
knowing that we have them how then do we
manage it so it doesn't influence or
impact how we do our job and that's a
valuable lesson for all of us in our
business but part of the problem that I
see and it happens in my own agency has
happened everywhere I've worked is that
police officers many and most of them do
a great job but there are a significant
number that just don't show the kind of
respect they need to show for the
communities that they serve and I'm
going to tell just a brief story as I as
I end this that kind of drives home the
importance of respect when I was a
sergeant working narcotics in Chicago I
had a guy that worked for me named Paris
Patton and Paris was one of these guys
that I mean he could sweet-talk anybody
he was a guy that even though we would
hit a raid narcotics raid and back in
those days I mean you literally hit the
door with a sledgehammer all kinds of
chaos people you're trying to isolate
folks so you can make sure they don't
have weapons or whatever and it was
pretty chaotic but by the time that was
over Paris had everybody calmed down and
may have even developed an informant and
what I would ask him and I did ask him
one time was man how do you do it
because you talk about sign know people
that can pour you know gasoline on a
fire but he was just the opposite he
could calm down anybody and he said it's
really very simple he said at the moment
of birth every person is a perfect 10
but deduct three right away because life
is temporary does not last forever
if you are born into a dysfunctional
family where there's substance abuse
domestic violence deduct another three
because the environment you're in now
you don't have the kind of role model
that you need to have is going to be
very difficult for you to make he said
if you're a member of a minority group
deduct another three because some doors
may not be open to you that are open for
others said that leaves one that one is
that in is that person's dignity and
self-respect
he said do what you have to do as a
police officer but never ever do
anything to take away that person's
dignity or self-respect because that's
all they got left and they will fight
you to hold on to it
I never forgot that and I've always
tried to to just go through my career in
my contacts and my daily activities with
that in mind and try to make sure that I
talk about that as often as I can
because a big part of the problem and
the reason why we have such strained
relationships quite frankly is just the
interaction that takes place on a daily
basis and when you think about 18,000
police departments 500,000 law
enforcement officers they've got to be
tens of thousands if not hundreds of
thousands of contacts every single day
but all it takes is just a few videos to
change the entire dynamic we have to
hold police officers accountable but we
also have to deal with the very real
issue we have with a disproportionate
amount of crime and violence occurring
in some of our communities how do we fix
that so it's going to take a collective
effort on all our parts we got to stop
the finger-pointing in the blank and sit
down and really come up with a solution
a strategy to start to have a solid
impact so our young people can grow up
in an environment where they feel safe
and secure they can be educated they can
go out here and find decent paying jobs
to be able to support their families
well there'll be a few fall off the
rails yet but there always has been but
we can minimize the number and we can
have a dramatic impact on what we see
going out there now a lot of the burden
is on us me as a police leader but some
of the burden and much of the burden is
on all of you two because collectively
we sink or swim together so with that I
want to thank you all for your time and
your attention and God bless
you
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