New Police Philosophy for Lakewood
Discussing the recent budget proposal, Lakewood Police Chief Smith went through his policing philosophy to explain changes to the budget. The base of this philosophy was enacted by President Obama, called 21st Century Policing. At its core, the policy is about building trust in police. Crime is addressed more indirectly, not as the crime itself (i.e. shoplifting) but by addressing the root cause of the crime (i.e. what made a person shoplift).
In Lakewood, there are more conversations about crime than trust in police. Evidence suggests these may be two different conversations. It is now eight years since the Obama-era policy was issued. This author could find zero studies to show crime reduction as a result of these policies. The National Policing Institute issued a 5-year report that showed limited success in select areas, not including crime. For example, police departments that started reporting data via an online dashboard showed some success in increased transparency. This type of dashboard is a national trend; see Tucson, Arizona for an example. Other cities showed increased trust, as defined by positive feeling for, or lack of being threatened by police, after a brief visit. There were not many departments still using the policing report guidelines after five years so the effects were not able to be studied further.
There was one notable outcome in Louisville, Kentucky, which implemented the strategy early and gained accolades from the White House. However, an incident in later years, caused the approval to be rescinded. Follow-up research found that it was not the fault of the White House policy, but rather it was the fault of the police department which did not implement the strategy correctly.
The Louisville study results concluded that the police could not be relied upon to correctly implement the required police reform. The 5-year report also came to a similar conclusion, finding that improper implementation by the police was the fault, not the policy.
Lakewood has not had a public conversation about what it will be doing differently than places like Louisville or Tucson that may result in success. How can Lakewood be the first police department to successfully implement these reforms to achieve trust and lower crime?
Under the new Lakewood guidelines, five police officer positions will be transitioned to civilian positions (ex. behavioral health staff). Filling five less police officer positions also decreases the time needed for recruiting, which is an ongoing challenge in today’s environment.
Another Lakewood goal is to have officers spend 33% of their time on proactive policing, i.e. knocking on doors in a friendly way, to increase resident trust. According to Police Chief Smith, these proactive measures will help stop crime before it starts. Following 21st Century practices, the theory is that “crime reduction will happen through engagement.”
As to the problems already occurring, this approach may be less effective. In problem areas, the Chief suggests saturated, targeted patrols, with police presence acting as a deterrent. Lakewood residents have already noticed the decreased effectiveness of patrols, claiming the police pass by problem areas without stopping.
Police reform measures will be a new policy for Lakewood. Although policy in Lakewood is set by City Council, department heads are allowed broad leeway in operational strategies. By implementing the policy through the budget, a public discussion format was bypassed. A public discussion about police reform would have alerted many residents to the change. As it stands, Council Members will vote on the budget, rather than the important discussion of police policy. (Note: Read here to see how the majority of council turned down multiple requests for public safety discussions.)
Lakewood has the opportunity to learn from other cities which have had the same problem and have tried some of these policies. Even without an official study, there is plenty of evidence that this is a complicated subject. For example, in this video from Philadelphia, people discuss the effects these policies have had in other areas (select quotes below).
“People are shooting up on corners [the police] drive right by.” … “People are arrested for buying drugs, they just take you downtown and let you go. Talk to you about rehab and stuff and let you go.”
The next problem cities like Philadelphia and San Diego have is when public perception switches from the city being part of the solution to being part of the problem.
“[the city] enables it. They feed them, they clothe them. They aren’t hitting their rock bottom.”
Unfortunately, this circles right around to the building of trust that Chief Smith is trying to solve.