This isn't a long message. I hope that its delivery will ring a few bells in the heads of today's police managers.
I regularly read many law enforcement publications. If one was uninformed and a new observer today, it might be easy to conclude that the quality of police work could be primarily traced to the technology that is put in the hands of todays officers.
The sad truth is this: too few agencies have kept their focus "The Goal." Their mission has become blurred. It has somehow drifted so that now, we seem to be primarily focused on deploying the latest technology to the street. Some administrators act as though our success depends on it.
As cops, our focus should be simple: stop the bad people among us from harming the good people. We should try to prevent bad deeds before they happen. When we can't, we focus on a quick response and apprehension of those who commit evil deeds.
HOW DO WE DO THAT?
The answer is simple: we adapt and overcome. We all learned that phrase at the beginning of our academy training days. There are various ways of meeting the challenge, yet the basic concept remains steady.
Recent LE publications have shown how drugs are being hidden and smuggled inside I-Pods. We read articles explaining the dangers of a "hunting" knife which will release a large amount of gas inside the body of a victim, freeze all organs in the area, and ultimately explode the body cavity.
When I worked for U.S. Customs in Detroit, we constantly received updates of new "tricks" being used to smuggle contraband into the United States. We had technical gizmos that seemed straight from science-fiction pages. With the "Buster" we could measure the relative density of car body panels, gas tanks, tires, and virtually anything else. We could use a camera to look inside a gas tank. We had belt sensors that detected radiation - even to the point of sounding an alarm when someone had a recent stress test.
But, nothing ever equaled the sensory quality of the hair on the back of the neck of an astute Customs Inspector.
The attacks of 9/11 demonstrated the critical failures of the belief that technology could replace good cop work, instincts and gut feelings of an aware cop.
Recent years have given rise to local agencies following the Feds down this same false (and failed) path. There's night vision, computers with software claiming to do "everything" in finding potential bad guys; we have mobile video systems that can now be remotely viewed from other cars or the station brass. Communities are installing cameras in schools and public buildings that the cops can watch from their cars.
Audio interactions with citizens can be recorded virtually anywhere. Global positioning systems will tell everyone on the crew of your location - and the best route to take when responding to a call. Of course, the computer can't tell you when a stalled train has one of the suggested routes blocked.
The narcotics units can remotely eavesdrop inside a building. Cameras can be everywhere; yet for all their good, they can only tell stories of what has already happened. They deal only in the past.
My message is singular. In reaching The Goal cops must first be taught to be cops with good basic skills. Those skills usually only come from experience on the street at the hand of a more seasoned officer. Then, these cops must have the basic gear to do the job.
Much too often, cops are denied the basic tools in favor of the gadgets. After all, it makes better reading in the press. It implies to a watchful public that there really is no threat, and that public safety is somehow guarded by a computer. Enforcement and use of force, after all, aren't pretty. Maybe the political leaders think they can pretend it away.
There is a city agency in Maryland. They seem to go to great effort to be the first to get every new technical gadget as it is invented. They have computers, GPS, in-car video, remote audio, the newest light bars, digital radios - you get the picture. This same city has a high school where - fairly regularly in the past - there is a violent riot among the students. The officers have been denied shotguns (so far). They've been denied carbines, rifles, etc. TASERs are available but on a limited basis. I'm not saying that shoulder fired weapons are required for a riot response, but active shooter events are occuring with more and more frequency. How are the officers supposed to respond with just handguns?
In today's world, technology can (and does) go a long way to improving the productivity and effectiveness of our cops. But, if those cops can't do the job when the rubber meets the road, of what value is all the technology? Answer: none.
The basics today are much the same as yesterday: skills that are taught and practiced; weaponry capable of subduing the bad guys and restraining them once they are under control.
Recent times have seen widespread use of TASERs. From my perspective, TASERs (or other ECDs) have become a basic tool. They have been shown to reduce injuries and deaths of cops and bad guys, alike. Often, the left-wing, liberal, political types have been able to suppress police administrators in their arguments in favor of ECDs.
We need to once again focus on The Goal: stop the bad people among us from harming the good people. Hopefully, it happens through prevention, rather than reaction.
Cops need the tools to stop today's threats. Computers and gizmos can be great, but they will never put handcuffs on the bad guys. Remember that.
EPILOGUE
A few years ago, I was involved in the design and development of a training program. Our charge was to prepare patrol officers in an airport police department with the skills necessary to respond to an active shooter incident in the terminal.
The airport serves a major U.S. city. It is a hub for one of the major airlines, ranking in the top ten for passenger boardings nationally. There were three major terminal buildings that were physically separate from one another. Each had a full compliment of patrol officers on duty 24x7.
There was much discussion among the agency brass that also involved airport management about where the tactical equipment would be kept for use in such a situation. Our recommendation: place a cache of weapons, shields, and other gear in a secure room at each building. There was sufficient budget for this approach.
The politicos thought that the recommended approach might appear too aggressive to civilians - both passengers and airport employees.
Ultimately, all of the tactical gear was put in a single armored vehicle. That solo vehicle would be used on patrol 24x7 throughout the entire 10 square mile facility and would respond to an incident, should one arise. Upon learning the cops' concern that getting the gear on scene might take 15-20 minutes from the time of original outbreak, the administration gave each officer a BlackBerry to be used for summoning it.
The text method was chosen because, unlike voice communications, it could not be scanned or heard by outsiders.
The fact that the vehicle could be tied up at the time, wasn't important. Management chose to overlook the risks associated with a delayed response. They didn't want to hear about the risk to the lives of the officers on scene who most likely would be out-gunned. Nope, none of that mattered. Just so it looked good.
This is a classic case of HIAS (Head in Ass Syndrome).
It's time to focus on The Goal once again.
Jim has recently earned his peace officer certification in the State of Florida. Previously, Jim worked with U.S. Customs & Immigration at the Detroit/Canada border in the year following the attacks of 9/11. He has also worked as a reserve patrolman on the streets of a suburban Detroit community.
Jim has been named an Ambassador for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C.
Jim has worked with police departments across the country on process improvement at the patrol car level, focusing on technology to improve tactics, safety, and productivity. He instructs in a variety of police academies and having taught "Technology and Tactics" to thousands of cops in-service nationally. He is an accomplished grant writer. Jim is a certified ILEETA member.
Jim is married to Paula and they have two children. Jim is a competitive bodybuilder, with six contests to his credit. Jim is active in his community and his church.
