I was attending a meeting held at the Galveston City Council's conference room a couple of weeks ago and noticed fourteen goals hanging on the wall. It was obviously the result of either the City Council's retreat or strategic planning session.
Community Policing was one of the goals. It caught my attention because two days prior, the Race Relations Committee met at Galveston College to discuss and review our progress. One of the members was upset that police officers from the Galveston Police department had been unnecessarily pulling over and searching local residents and people attending St. Vincent's Episcopal House near Post Office and Church Street. She said many of her residents were also upset and concerned about what was happening in our neighborhoods. She wanted something done and had called the police department to complain. After the meeting, I decided to drive around the neighborhoods. As luck would have it, a woman was walking down the street and a patrol car with two officers pulled in front of her. What was interesting to observe was not the woman in question, but the concerned look on the bystanders' faces. At least ten people stopped and looked at the officers. They had a certain expression on their faces. Two of the women were elderly, looking from their doorsteps, three people in a car actually stopped to observe, another woman actually stood in the middle of the street and stared at the officers. It was as though they had seen this scene before. I, too, stopped my car to observe. One officer appeared to be asking the woman questions and the other officer stood at the rear of the patrol car with his hand resting on the belt holding his weapon. After what appeared to be several minutes, the woman walked away from the officers. One of the elderly women said something like "that's the second time today."
Is this Community Policing? Let us analyze.
Elizabeth Watson, past Police Chief of Houston and Austin, Texas, speaking before the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in October 1996, is reported to have said, "When I was a captain of police in Houston, I took a written examination to be a deputy chief, and did well on it. So I knew I was going to be promoted to deputy chief. At the time in Houston, we had a program called NOP, which stood for Neighborhood-Oriented Policing. At least, it stood for that if you were in patrol. If you weren't in patrol, NOP stood for Not Our Problem. I was promoted out of auto theft, and Chief Lee Brown told me that my job was to go to patrol and to implement this thing globally that we called Neighborhood-Oriented Policing. I got him off to the side and I said, 'Exactly what do you want me to do? What does that mean?' And he said: 'Well, see, that's why this is such a good job. You're going to figure it out.'"
If one were to review the historical perspective of the different stages of policing, you will see the transition from the old beat cop who knew all his neighbors, to a politicized police era, to the present system of radio dispatched calls to crime scenes, then finally back to the concept of foot-patrol: community policing. The concept of community policing meant that the officers on the beat attempted to interface and interact daily face-to-face with the community. Community policing should include both police-community relations, crime prevention and directly address the need to refocus on officer selection, training, evaluation and promotion.
The traditional methods of policing used in many cities still today rely heavily on deterrence through a visible presence of the police on patrol. However, social changes have occurred over the years and traditional policing methods are not as effective in addressing the needs of the communities. Communities, like Galveston, have become more diverse and the problems have changed as drugs and violent crimes have become more prevalent.
There are many theories of criminal behavior that focus on social factors as the cause of crime. Urban deterioration that fosters an environment conducive to criminal behavior provides a basis for the community policing programs. This type of program has been successfully used to expand the responsibility for crime control from the police to the community at large.
Several key people in the community stated that Sgt. Rich Singleton, who was active in the original police plan working with the community in identifying these problems, was somewhat successful. The focus was on enforcement efforts on drug related hot spots, designed to reduce both crime and the fear of crime in the community. In March 1998, the Galveston Daily News reported that the Galveston Police department was preparing to focus on a neighborhood based system of law enforcement. Singleton was reported to have said, "What it does is make the problems manageable."
There are others in the community that said NOP was not successful because it was not endorsed by the police union or the past police chief. Sgt. Singleton today is performing another duty. Why? If he was not successful, where does the blame lie? Some public officials would say that the City of Galveston has Community Policing, but let's not fool ourselves. Cities have received grant monies under the umbrella of Community Policing and officers on bicycle patrol and cars can be seen on the Seawall and in more affluent areas. What was the intended purpose of the grant? True and successful Community policing programs have required a change in the police department organizational style with an emphasis on feedback from the lower ranks and in many situations replaced sworn officers with civilians in clerical, technical, and professional duties.
We all know that it takes more than fiscal integrity and economic vitality to make a city great. In 1999, The Mayor and City Council may set high goals and attempt to take steps to focus the city's resources on this challenge. The Mayor and some of the City Council may really want to establish Community Policing, but let's not fool ourselves. It takes long-range planning. It also requires the Police Union support.
It takes a community that people can relate to. It means that we have to give people hope that there's a future in Galveston. We have a city with a future here. Galveston is an island of diversity and a city of neighborhoods. Through community policing, we must put police in the neighborhoods that represent this diversity and can identify with the community issues and problems on the streets where they are most effective.
A study examined the planning process of 12 police departments throughout the United States that implemented community policing. Most of the departments provided a detailed description of the action plans that were implemented in developing and initiating community policing. A thorough evaluation of implementing community policing should consist of understanding of the factors affecting a department's ability to accomplish the action plan.
Neither the police nor community can solve crime problems alone. A police department must assume a leadership role to effect greater community-police partnerships. Where is that leadership? Where is the Police Union? Where are the Community leaders? Where are the Churches? Galveston's Race Relations committee will hear from the police chief, Kim O. Schoolcraft at our next meeting, to address this issue. Placing Community Policing as one of the city's 14 goals will require support from everyone, including the African-American Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP and Churches along with the Police Chief, the Union leadership, the Mayor and City Council and of course the residents of Galveston County. I'm ready. Are you?