The Pantaleo Effect

Community trust of local law enforcement is existential to our American society, and unfortunately it has dwindled as of late. Cases like Mr. Eric Garner, who died while being arrested by New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in 2014, illustrate the issue. The community has rallied behind the family of Mr. Garner rightly emphasizing that he didn’t deserve to die. The New York Times reports that it was Mr. Garner’s death that galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. The leader of the city’s largest police union closed ranks with Officer Pantaleo insisting he didn’t deserve to lose his job and pension. 

Neither side seems to trust the other to do the right thing. Twenty-five years of research has demonstrated in the absence of trust behavior becomes increasingly more aggressive. We see this as community members in Harlem and Brooklyn dumped buckets of water on members of the New York Police Department (NYPD). As the Eric Garner case and subsequent spate of NYPD officer soakings seem to show, minority communities are growing more and more distrustful of law enforcement. Buckets of water may not seem very serious, but if law enforcement can’t earn the trust of their community, then buckets of water today could become violence tomorrow and seriously undermine the structure of our nation's society. It’s all part of what I, and others, call the “Pantaleo Effect.”

The Problem

According to the Washington Post, the number of arrests and criminal summonses handled by NYPD cops plummeted compared to the same period in 2018 — and law enforcement sources warn the cause is what I describe with the Pantaleo Effect. This dysfunction continues to fester increasing distrust and adversarial positioning between law enforcement agencies and their communities.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently enforcing 20 consent decrees and agreements with U.S. law enforcement agencies for chronic abuses like racial bias and excessive force. Many of these agencies are now being forced to accept community oversight committees. For such agencies, all officer shooting incidents now will be evaluated based upon opinions from experts and community oversight committee members, and of course the DOJ will review all of these opinions as well. Unfortunately, all opinions are biased.

Depending on who you ask, opinions from the community oversight committee may seem biased in favor of the person who was shot. If there are expert opinions in favor of law enforcement, those opinions may be considered biased and will be seen by communities as “a cover-up.” Biased opinions from both sides drive DOJ to further investigate and in many cases pursue lawsuits that ultimately result in additional conditions being placed on law enforcement. Ferguson’s Police Department conditions, according to NPR, fill 127 pages. With such an unresolvable battle of opinions, can law enforcement agencies regain the trust and respect of minority communities? 

The Solution 

The solution is for law enforcement to implement an unbiased, systematic approach. They must apply the law equally and transparently in a way that the communities they serve can understand and trust. The Center for Aggression Management may hold the answer in its Critical Aggression Prevention System (CAPS). It is the only system that is scientifically validated and produces evidence-based best practices for the agencies that use it. CAPS has the ability to demonstrate to any observer, including community oversight committee members and the DOJ, that enforcement decisions were made strictly on the basis of objective, observable behaviors without regard to race, ethnicity or gender.   

CAPS has three components that distinguish it from other systems: Aggression First Observers’ Training, Certified Aggression Managers’ Training and the Meter of Emerging Aggression (MEA) Mobile Software Service. Because we cannot train all people with all skills, the Center for Aggression Management trains Aggression First Observers using our scientifically validated MEA to observe “objective measurable observables” and report. Next, we train a small core group of Certified Aggression Managers (creating scalability) to observe and engage. Finally, we put in place the MEA Mobile Software Service. MEA uses no culture, gender, education, age, sexual orientation or mental illness in its assessment. The MEA measures only aggressive behavior and assesses this behavior on a scientifically validated scale of aggression. This is what the FBI and Secret Service refer to as “identifying someone on the path to violence.” Thus, CAPS does not violate HIPAA or the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Restoring Public Trust to Avoid the Alternative

As trust is diminished, aggression emerges, which can ultimately be expressed with violence (riots and officers being shot). Many police officers are increasingly leery of getting out of their vehicles to solve problem for fear of being blindsided by the very members of the community they strive to protect. We believe that law enforcement trainers should go out into the community (civic centers and churches) and train citizens to become Aggression First Observers. By doing this, minority community citizens can learn that law enforcement officers are using objective, measurable observed behavior, not skin color or ethnicity, and more importantly they have the skills to de-escalate aggressors before things become violent. This could go a long way to develop lost rapport and trust among minority communities. Police officers will receive scientifically validated, objective, measurable observables from citizens trained as Aggression First Observers making their efforts for more reliable, effective and efficient. In working together to solve community issues, trust and respect can be restored. 

The unique CAPS approach can enhance law enforcement’s ability to reliably prevent violence, and thereby, develop a stronger trust relationship with its communities. To better understand the CAPS system and process, law enforcement and community leaders can view this video or contact me at [email protected] or 407-718-5637.

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