The importance of mindset in policing | Chip Huth | TEDxTacoma

Summary

In this inspiring talk, Chip Hughes, a 24-year veteran law enforcement officer, shares Kansas City's transformative journey in policing. From a zero-tolerance approach that failed to a mindset shift towards seeing people as individuals with hopes and needs, Hughes illustrates how this change in perspective led to significant reductions in crime and community complaints. The story highlights the power of empathy and personal connection in building trust and solving problems, proving that a change in mindset can create lasting, positive impacts on communities.

Takeaways

• 👮 Law enforcement has faced scrutiny and a lack of trust due to high-profile events, prompting a need for transformation in policing methods.
• 🛑 Chip, a 24-year law enforcement veteran, acknowledges his previous approach of 'pleading problems, not people' contributed to the issue.
• 🔄 Kansas City police underwent a transformative journey, learning new ways of policing that focused on community engagement and problem-solving.
• 🏘️ The Westside Community's high crime rate and fear of police were addressed by shifting from a zero-tolerance policy to a more community-oriented approach.
• 🐾 A significant reduction in dogs being shot during search warrant operations was achieved by incorporating a dog expert and technology to restrain aggressive animals.
• 🚐 SWAT team members took initiative to improve conditions in patrol wagons, addressing community complaints about excessive heat and enhancing relations with detainees.
• 🍳 A SWAT officer's empathetic response to a family's ruined dinner during an evacuation demonstrated the humanizing effect of seeing people as individuals with needs.
• 👶 An officer's act of mixing and distributing baby bottles during a chaotic house search illustrates the importance of adaptability and responsiveness in law enforcement.
• 🔑 Two officers on the West Side focused on building trust and differentiating between day laborers and criminals, leading to a significant drop in crime rates.
• 🏢 The community's re-engagement with local businesses and support for the police is a testament to the positive outcomes of a mindset shift in law enforcement.
• 🌟 The SWAT team's transformation resulted in a three-fold increase in productivity and a 100% reduction in community complaints over six years, showcasing the power of a mindset change.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the script?

The script discusses the transformation of law enforcement practices, particularly in Kansas City, focusing on changing the mindset from 'pleasing problems' to 'pleasing people' to build trust and reduce crime.

How long has Chip, Hugh been a law enforcement officer?

Chip, Hugh has been a law enforcement officer for the past 24 years.

What significant events led to a lack of trust in the police?

High-profile events in the country, which are not specified in the script, have contributed to a lack of trust in the police among many community members.

What was the initial approach of the SWAT team in the Westside Community?

The initial approach was a zero tolerance policy toward crime, with heavy policing, writing tickets, and making arrests for any violation, regardless of how minor.

What was the result of the initial SWAT team approach in the Westside Community?

Despite the heavy-handed approach, the crime rate increased, and community members began to see the police as the enemy.

How did the mindset of the SWAT team begin to change?

The mindset began to change through the influence of The Arbinger Institute, which partnered with the Leadership Academy to encourage officers to see the people they serve as people.

What was the impact of embedding a dog expert with the SWAT team?

Embedding a dog expert led to an 80% reduction in dogs being shot during search warrant operations by learning about dog behavior and implementing additional technology to restrain aggressive animals.

What initiative did the patrol wagon drivers take to address the issue of excessive heat in the prisoner compartment?

The patrol wagon drivers purchased PVC pipe and duct tape to create a makeshift ventilation system that pushed cool air into the prisoner's compartment.

What was the result of the SWAT team's new approach in the Westside Community after abandoning the zero tolerance policy?

The crime rate was reduced to an all-time low, and the community became more engaged and supportive of the police, with businesses and restaurants moving back into the neighborhood.

How did the SWAT team's productivity and community complaints change after the mindset shift?

The SWAT team captured more illegal drugs and guns in a 3-year period than in the previous decade, while receiving zero community complaints for 6 years, indicating a three-fold increase in productivity and a 100% reduction in complaints.

What is the key takeaway from the script regarding law enforcement and community relations?

The key takeaway is that changing the mindset of law enforcement officers to see community members as individuals with hopes, needs, and fears, rather than just enforcing rules, can significantly improve relations and reduce crime.

Outlines

00:00

👮‍♂️ Transformation in Policing

The speaker, Chip, a 24-year veteran of law enforcement, discusses the transformation in his approach to policing. Initially part of the problem due to a zero-tolerance policy that led to community mistrust, Chip and his team in Kansas City began to apply new methods of policing, influenced by The Arbinger Institute. They started to see the community members as people, not just problems, which led to innovative solutions like reducing the shooting of aggressive dogs and addressing the discomfort of prisoners during transport. This shift in mindset significantly improved community relations and reduced crime rates.

05:00

🔍 Personalized Policing Approaches

This paragraph highlights unique and personalized approaches taken by the speaker's team in various situations. From compensating a family for a ruined dinner during an evacuation to serving a warrant in a chaotic household with infants, the team showed adaptability and empathy. They also describe how two officers on the West Side, after abandoning zero-tolerance policies, engaged with community leaders, building trust and differentiating between day laborers and criminals. This led to a system that provided support for workers and community services, significantly reducing crime and restoring community spirit.

10:01

🏆 Achievements and Mindset Shift

The final paragraph summarizes the achievements made by the speaker's team, emphasizing the importance of a mindset shift over new policies or technologies. The team's productivity increased threefold, capturing more illegal drugs and guns in three years than in the previous decade, while also achieving a 100% reduction in community complaints over six years. The speaker concludes by stating that if their team could achieve such transformation, any team can, highlighting the power of changing perspectives in law enforcement.

Keywords

💡Law Enforcement

Law enforcement refers to the system of agencies and personnel responsible for maintaining public order, enforcing laws, and ensuring the safety, health, and property of citizens. In the video, the speaker reflects on their 24-year career in law enforcement and the transformation they underwent to better serve communities, highlighting the shift from a traditional approach to a more community-oriented one.

💡Zero Tolerance Policy

A zero tolerance policy is a strict approach where no leniency is given for any violation of rules or laws, regardless of the severity. In the script, the speaker mentions the adoption of such a policy in the Westside Community, which initially seemed to be a solution to high crime rates but ultimately led to increased tensions and a decline in community trust.

💡Community Trust

Community trust refers to the confidence and belief that community members have in the institutions that serve them, particularly in law enforcement. The video discusses the importance of building and maintaining this trust, as it is essential for effective policing and community safety. The speaker's journey in Kansas City demonstrates how a change in mindset can foster trust and improve police-community relations.

💡Transformational Policing

Transformational policing is an approach that emphasizes building relationships, understanding community needs, and adapting strategies to address specific issues. The speaker shares how this approach has been transformative for his team and the community, moving away from traditional policing methods that focused on punitive actions to ones that prioritize community engagement and problem-solving.

💡SWAT Team

A SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team is a specialized unit of law enforcement that deals with high-risk situations, such as hostage incidents, terrorism, and other critical incidents. In the video, the speaker's experience as a SWAT team member is central to the narrative, illustrating the shift from a traditional enforcement-focused approach to a more community-oriented one.

💡The Arbinger Institute

The Arbinger Institute is an organization that focuses on leadership development and conflict resolution. In the script, the speaker mentions the Institute's influence on their team's transformation, suggesting that its principles helped shift their mindset from seeing people as problems to seeing them as individuals with unique needs and perspectives.

💡Aggressive Dogs

The term 'aggressive dogs' in the context of the video refers to the challenges faced by the SWAT team during search warrant operations. The speaker shares how a shift in perspective led to innovative solutions for dealing with aggressive dogs, reducing the need for lethal force and improving relations with the community.

💡Patrol Wagons

Patrol wagons, as mentioned in the script, are vehicles used to transport arrested individuals to jail. The speaker recounts how officers proactively addressed complaints about excessive heat in these vehicles, demonstrating a commitment to treating detainees with dignity and respect, which is a key aspect of transformational policing.

💡Community Complaints

Community complaints refer to the grievances and criticisms from the public about law enforcement practices. The video highlights a significant reduction in such complaints as a result of the SWAT team's shift in mindset and approach, underscoring the importance of community engagement and responsiveness in policing.

💡Mindset Shift

A mindset shift is a change in perspective or attitude that can lead to different behaviors and outcomes. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of such a shift for law enforcement officers, from viewing people as problems to recognizing their individuality and humanity, which is central to the transformational approach to policing.

💡Productivity

In the context of the video, productivity refers to the effectiveness and efficiency of the SWAT team in achieving their goals, such as capturing illegal drugs and guns. The speaker notes a three-fold increase in productivity as a result of the mindset shift and transformational approach to policing, demonstrating the tangible benefits of this change.

Highlights

Chip, Hugh's 24-year experience as a law enforcement officer and the transformation in his approach to policing.

The deep scrutiny and lack of trust in police due to high-profile events.

The journey of applying new policing methods in Kansas City with a focus on solutions.

The initial SWAT team's zero tolerance policy and its failure to reduce crime in the Westside Community.

The realization of the ineffectiveness of traditional policing methods and the need for change.

Promotion and leadership of a new SWAT team with the same ineffective mindset.

Introduction of The Arbinger Institute's ideas and their impact on the team's mindset.

The shift in mindset leading to better results and community relations.

The initiative to reduce the shooting of aggressive dogs by understanding and addressing the issue.

The 80% reduction in dogs being shot due to innovative solutions and technology.

Officers addressing complaints about patrol wagon heat and taking proactive steps for improvement.

The creative solution using PVC pipes and duct tape to alleviate heat issues in patrol wagons.

The SWAT team's responsiveness in unique situations, leading to better community relations.

The story of a SWAT officer mixing baby bottles for infants during a chaotic house search.

The transformation of the Westside Community through a shift in mindset and engagement with community leaders.

The development of a system for day laborers that improved community safety and cooperation.

The significant reduction in crime rate and the revitalization of the Westside Community.

The importance of mindset change over new policies, technologies, or behavioral mandates.

The SWAT team's increased productivity and the complete elimination of community complaints over six years.

The message that the transformation experienced in Kansas City can be replicated elsewhere.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

hello good afternoon my name is Chip

Hugh and I've been a law enforcement

officer for the past 24 years and for

most of that time I have pleased

problems not people as we're all aware

law enforcement has come under deep

scrutiny in the in the wake of recent

significant events in our country so

some of these high-profile events have

contributed to a lack of trust in the

police on the part of many community

members and for most of my career I've

been part of that

problem but over the last several years

in Kansas City we've been on a journey a

journey learning to apply new ways of

policing that have been transformational

particularly for me and the members of

my

team with the real urgency to find

solutions to our biggest problems I want

to share how this transformation

occurred for us and what it has meant in

Kansas City I'm here because I know what

has happened with us can happen

anywhere when I first became a SWAT team

member our City's Westside Community was

deeply burdened with high volume crime

many businesses had relocated and the

streets resembled open

sewers most of the criminals Blended in

with groups of undocumented workers and

prayed on them and other citizens who

were too fearful to cooperate with the

police at one point our SWAT team was

brought in with a mandate to clean it up

we adopted a zero tolerance policy

toward crime of any kind but the

situation continued to decline we

pleased the neighborhood heavily we

wrote tickets and made arrests for any

violation we observe no matter how minor

we were fishing with a net instead of a

spear and many hardworking community

members got caught up in the sweeps

meant to discourage the

criminals despite our work the crime

rate increased and because of our work

some community members began to see us

as the

enemy I remember one critical thinking

officer approaching me and asking chip

you do realize what we're doing isn't

working right to which I replied yes of

course I realize it isn't working but

we're the police and this is what we

do it was my narrow-mindedness that

invited community members to complain

more and cooperate

less a few years later I was promoted

and had the opportunity to lead a SWAT

team of my own I brought the same

mindset I had employed on the west side

with me and it wasn't long before that

team was one of the most complained upon

units in the entire

department I was equal parts blind to

the needs of the community and the

potential of my team

it was in the middle of all this that we

encountered the ideas of The arbinger

Institute through a partnership with the

Institute and our Leadership Academy we

began to ask a question do we really see

the people we're pleasing as people as

we started to ask ourselves this

question our team members started to

consider what it might be like to be

pleased by us as our Collective mindset

begin to shift so did our results let me

illustrate with a few quick

stories our team encounters many

aggressive dogs during search warrant

service operations aggressive dogs dogs

pose obvious danger to the team and the

primary way for the team to address them

was to shoot

them this made the owners of the animals

predictably angry and sad relating to

the dog owners one Squad member asked

this this question of our team he said

what if we could serve a warrant on your

house without shooting your dog would

you want us

to well many of the team members are pet

owners so you can imagine what the

answer was this one question led us to

embed a dog expert with our team to

learn our jobs and to teach teach us

about dog behavior we also implemented

additional technology to capture and

restrain aggressive animals this

initiative to date has resulted in an

80% reduction in dogs being shot on

search one executions in Kansas City

Missouri our team utilizes Patrol wagons

to escort suspects to jail these wagons

are essentially vans that have been

converted to whole prisoners a couple of

officers were operating these wagons not

noticed that people were complaining

about the excessive heat in the summer

months as a result they were often angry

and unruly and when they got to jail

they caused disturbances with the

detention people the wagon drivers

listened to the complaints of these

folks and they actually did an

investigation themselves they took it on

themselves to look into this they

discovered the cabins of the patrol

wagons could heat up to dangerous levels

on some

days but because of the modifications

made to the vehicle cool air could not

be effectively pumped into the prisoner

compartment these off officers went to

the local hardware store and purchased

PVC pipe and duct tape with money out of

their own wallets they used the duct

tape to attach one end of the PVC pipe

to the air conditioner vents in the

driver's compartment ran the other end

of the pipe through the metal mesh into

the back of the prisoner's

compartment this made it possible to

push cool air into the back of the wagon

providing relief from the heat uh to the

suspects as they were being transported

to the Detention

Facility as we started to see people we

were pleasing more and more as people

who mattered the way we mattered

it began to affect what we did as we

responded to Unique situations in ways

we could not have conceived of when we

were operating from an inward

mindset one summer day our team chased a

violent fugitive into an apartment

complex the man hid in the ceiling of

one of the apartments requiring us to

evacuate the entire

building one family was in the middle of

making dinner and in their rush to get

the safety they weren't able to turn off

the

stove once the building was evacuated we

were able to enter the ceiling space and

capture the suspect without endangering

the residence a detective assigned to

our team noticed the ruined dinner on

the Family's stove he took inventory of

everything that was wasted and left the

scene as we began the process of letting

folks back into their homes about 30

minutes later that detective returned

with an armful of groceries which he

delivered to the family whose dinner was

ruined the detective had used his

personal credit card to replace every

single item on the Family's dinner

menu one day we asked we were asked by

the homicide unit to serve a warrant uh

on a house looking for a couple of

murder

suspects uh we did our homework on the

residence I briefed the team and we

rolled out as we made the block we were

immediately compromised by Lookouts uh

our breacher took the front door off the

hinges with the battering ram and we

made our way into the living room what

we encountered on the other side of that

door was complete

pandemonium there were approximately 25

people with small children and infants

in the home toddlers were literally

clinging to our legs as we made our way

through the house there were minutes of

chaos as we rounded everybody up and

Consolidated them into a dining room

room that had been furnished with three

couches I tried to address the group

however with several small children

screaming and mothers frantically trying

to calm them the best I could do was try

to go from person to person to explain

why we were

there it was about that time I noticed

that my point man was

missing uh I decided I was going to try

to find him I imagined he had found some

quiet place somewhere in the house to

call the detectives I walked into the

kitchen and there he was in full

tactical gear standing at the sink

mixing baby

bottles he just looked at me and smiled

and kind of shrugged and he went out to

the dining room and began Distributing

the baby bottles to the mothers of the

crying

infants this one act of responsiveness

changed the entire scene everyone calmed

down and we were able to explain the

situation thoroughly and turn the two

suspects over to the detective smoothly

all because this officer was able to be

responsive in a stressful

situation no behavioral mandate new

policy or technology prescription can

change the way we see others nor can

these sterile measures equip officers

with the ability to adapt in the moment

to provide the approach each unique

situation

requires the change in the way we see

can not only transform a single

situation but can transform an entire

Community let me take you back to the

west side where two officers there began

to see people as

people after we had abandoned the zero

tolerance policies on the West Side the

main responsibility for policing the

community fell to two officers these

officers engage Community Leaders with

humility and an open mind they abandoned

positions and focused on the shared

interests of the neighborhood and the

police department they began by

acknowledging the personhood of each

member of the community they saw them as

people who counted this shift in mindset

opened up possibilities never before

considered they worked to build trust

with all community members they begin to

differentiate between the day laborers

who wanted to work and those who hid

among them that were responsible for the

majority of the crime in the

neighborhood these officers helped

devise a system where the men seeking

work had to report to a community center

where they were issued ID cards and

provided with food coffee restroom

facilities and place to

shower those who weren't picked up for

work on a given day were dispatched out

into the community to perform to perform

Neighborhood

Services these two officers worked right

alongside of them clearing brush

painting houses and even helping

neighborhood matriarchs make tamales all

the while building critical

relationships that were leveraged to

help instill security safety and

prosperity back back into the

community the criminals with ill intent

became easy to identify and the

community began willingly cooperating

with the efforts to reduce crime and

disorder has their fear of the police

dissipated these two officers worked

with the community members and fellow

officers to drive the crime rate to an

all-time low and achieve a national

success story that was made possible by

a mindset shift that allowed them to see

those in the community as people with

individual hopes needs fears and Dreams

A Bank restaurant and other

neighborhoods and other businesses move

back into the neighborhood and the

community is engaged and supportive of

the

police we are facing a huge Challenge

and we must face it together the

solution is simple changing our mindset

more than mandating new behaviors

deploying new technologies or

implementing new policies is what is

needed this mindset shift helped our

SWAT team capture more illegal drugs and

guns in a 3-year period than we had in

the previous decade while at the same

time transforming from the most

complaint on unit in the department to

receiving zero Community complaints in 6

years just a recap that represents a

three-fold increase in productivity and

a 100% reduction in community

complaints believe me if we can do it

anyone can thank you very much for the

gift of your

[Applause]

time