What is really expected of Police

Defunding or dismantling the police is the new rallying cry heard around the country. Defunding the police is not new and has been going on for decades; in the form of expecting more without additional training, resources, or compensation. Let us look beyond the superficial reasons for this and dig deeper and see where we have been and how we got here. 

When I started in the police, it was understood that you will make less money now and have a good pension upon retirement. Those working in the private sector made more money but had to save for their own retirement. Then the housing market, banks, other industries, and our economy crashed starting about 2005 and completing in 2008. Many of those private sector employees lost the retirement that had been growing so well in the stock market. Then they pointed to the police and said why do the police have a protected pension and I do not. Then changes to police pension plans started.  

When the federal government and states started taking funding away from local police agencies, they started providing discounted surplus or decommissioned military equipment. It was a way for local police agencies to get equipment and vehicles they could not otherwise afford. Around 2014 and the Ferguson, Missouri shooting, the police started being accused of being militarized and that being the reason for excessive force by police. So that source of resources for police was removed. Meaning if officers needed similar equipment it had to come from their own budget. 

To save money and accommodate societal wishes, long-term psychiatric care facilities started closing in the 1950s and continued through the 2000s.  However, during that same time, the number of people needing psychiatric care increased. The belief was that they could go home to family to care for them or local short-term facilities. When the family could not manage the care, they called the police. The police were not trained for this, but had it thrust upon them. This also created a homeless population in many cities that are comprised of people with mental issues and no family or family unable or unwilling to help. The homeless are mostly harmless but can be unpredictably violent and go on crime sprees to self-medicate.

Also, in the 1950s, programs started putting officers in schools. This was to build relationships between the police and youth. Over time and more specifically the last 20 years, police became the security in these schools as violence in schools increased. Instead of building relationships, now officers were expected to enforce school rules, which are not laws. There was no additional training in interacting with the youth and the result harmed the relationship. Most recently, the community policing movement has police being paid to create relationships in the community. Is it a good use of police funding to have officers playing basketball or creating TikTok videos with the community? Is this what will be defunded?   

The problem is not too many officers, it is not enough officers, training, and resources for what is expected of officers. Police officers are trained to primarily be the enforcers of laws created by others.  The police have become the dumping ground for all the jobs and duties the did not fit into another agency or for political whims. It is unrealistic to expect a police officer to be able to handle every situation that is not handled by another agency.

This system of giving officers more duties that require specialized training, not giving officers that training, and taking resources away, has set the American Police Officer up to fail. This is not a failure of policing; it is a failure of the politicians. The same politicians that are pointing their finger at the police are the people responsible for the problems with policing. They are just trying to keep the spotlight off them and their failures. How about defunding the politicians by reducing their numbers, their pay, and their benefits?     

Officers are now expected to know the law like a lawyer, disarm an assailant like a martial arts expert without getting hurt or hurting the assailant, be able to diagnose and treat a mental health crisis in progress, communicate in writing like an English major, verbally communicate like a counselor, be precognizant of the intent of a suspect from first sight, drive like a professional driver, interact with the youth like a teacher, manage personal stress and the stress of others like a psychologist, be as physically fit as a CrossFit enthusiast, have the integrity of a religious leader, follow orders without question while knowing what orders to not follow, and more with the least pay possible. What other profession has such a variety of duties and expectations as the American Police Officer?

Politicians need to document exactly what they expect a police officer to do. Make sure the officers and citizens are clear about what officers will do and what they will not do. Then train the officers to be experts in what is expected of them and provide the resources needed to accomplish that mission. Anything less will be another slow march to failure.