Policing Matters

Protests following an officer-involved shooting

Recently, Sacramento police officers were investigating reports of a man who had been smashing car windows and was bounding fences in people’s backyards. In the body camera footage released soon after the OIS, one can hear an officer shouting, “Show me your hands! Stop!” The subject continued to flee. The officers continued their pursuit. Upon making contact with the individual, one cop shouted “Show me your hands! Gun! gun! gun!” Both officers opened fire. What Stephon Clark had in his hands was not a gun — it was a mobile phone — but in the dark during a rapidly unfolding, high-stress situation such as this, an objectively reasonable (Graham v. Connor) officer could easily have perceived a weapon. The family is calling for criminal prosecution of the officers. Protesters shut down an NBA game in Sacramento in response to the shooting. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how the mainstream news outlets and social media — along with the efforts of organized groups — creates such an uproar after an officer-involved shooting.

Should drug dealers get the death penalty?

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently issued a one-page memo calling for death penalty for drug dealers when it is “appropriate.” Sessions asked prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug-related offenses as part of an effort to combat the opioid crisis. The memo said, in part, “Drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and violent street gangs all contribute substantially to this scourge. To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful tool at their disposal.” According to a Quinnipiac University poll taken just days after the release of the memo, 71 percent of Americans queried on the subject oppose such a policy. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss whether or not such a policy targeting “large-scale drug dealers” might become a judicial quagmire.

FGM in the USA: The reality of the brutality

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Police are among the people who are “mandatory reporters” of suspected abuse or neglect. Abuse can take many forms — from physical harm to emotional damage. One relatively unknown form of child abuse is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) — the practice of the removal of a female’s clitoris and labia. Women in places like Dijibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Northern Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Somalia have undergone this brutal “procedure.” Astonishingly, this brutal form of child abuse is becoming prevalent in the United States. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how police should respond to reports of FGM.

Primary considerations for crime scene management

At a crime scene, patrol officers, investigators, and others need to do a lot of things simultaneously. They must create and maintain an inner and outer perimeter, ensuring that access is only given to those who warrant it. They must begin a crime scene log and maintain it all the way through. They must preserve evidence, and make note of how evidence may have been affected by responding EMTs and/or firefighters. In this podcast episode, Jim and Doug discuss the best practices for ensuring that the scene is processed thoroughly and properly.

Is there a place for ‘mindfulness’ in policing?

A study by two professors from the School of Professional Psychology at Pacific University examined 47 officers with an average tenure of nearly 14 years from police departments around the Pacific Northwest who engaged in exercises designed to enhance their physiological and psychological resilience. They practiced body-awareness exercises, mindful movement, martial arts exercises, and meditating while walking, sitting, and eating. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss what “mindfulness” really is, and how it can benefit officers and organizations.

Get out of the car: Alternative patrol tactics

The most fundamental aspect of community policing is having cops personally and proactively interacting with the community. That’s mighty difficult to do when you have two thousand pounds of police cruiser wrapped around you, with the windows rolled up and the radio chirping. In recent years, we’ve seen many agencies increase their foot patrols, especially in downtown business districts where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic, and the sidewalk presence of police officers can help to prevent everything from cell phone theft to shoplifting. However, there are other alternatives to explore. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the ways in which police can remain mobile for rapid response, and yet also remain available for affable conversation with the average citizen.

Report writing best practices

JD “Buck” Savage humorously taught officers to write accurate reports when he said, “Saw drunk. Arrested same.” Thorough, well-written reports get results. Sloppy reports with a dearth of information let the guilty run free. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss best practices for report writing, and ponder what the future holds, as artificial intelligence and body-worn cameras may one day lead to semi-autonomous report writing or even fully-autonomous report writing.

Police failures in Parkland

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was a failure of law enforcement from start to finish. In January, the FBI received tips that the 19-year-old shooter had expressed a disturbing desire to kill people both verbally and in social media posts. The FBI did nothing. There are reports that as many as 39 calls were made to the Broward County Sheriff's Office about the kid-turned-killer. Many of those calls included details about how the gunman spoke of his desire to “shoot up the school.” In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the fact that, while we cannot have cops snatching people up like “Thinkpol” did in Oceania, or looking for “Precogs” from Minority Report, with such an abundance of inbound calls about an individual, further action should have been taken.

A renewed debate about arming teachers

Following the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, there have been renewed calls for arming teachers who qualify mentally, emotionally, and physically to carry a concealed firearm. Any such program would require careful vetting, police training, constant re-evaluation of the people and the program itself. There would need to be budget put aside for everything from the guns and ammo to the administration of the program. That having been said, three states are now considering legislation to allow teachers to be armed. The president has called for arming teachers and has the power by executive fiat to make it happen. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss whether or not American schools should remain “gun free zones.”

Post-OIS interview procedures that get results

Research from Force Science Institute reveals that in order to get the most accurate and detailed information from officer-involved shootings or other high-intensity events, officers should be allowed a recovery period of at least 48 hours before being interviewed in depth about the incident by IA or criminal investigators. Further, the manner in which the interview should be conducted should not be adversarial or confrontational — instead, a process called the cognitive interview should be used. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss some ways in which police agencies can improve the way cops are treated following a critical incident.