Between the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing battle for equality and fair treatment under the law, it has been an interesting and challenging time to be the head of a local police department. Over the past three years, I have come to understand that our police are, unequivocally, asked to do too many jobs and wear too many hats at the same time, and it is past time to reconsider and reimagine how we approach community policing.
On any given day, an officer might be asked to intercede on everything from a physical health issue (fall, heart attack, choking, overdose, etc.) to a mental health related issue (Alzheimer’s, dementia, schizophrenia, etc.) to crime related alerts (break-in, robbery, assault, homicide, etc.) to community maintenance challenges (traffic, events, accidents, etc.). Thankfully, officers are trained to handle all these types of events. However, that does not mean that they are the best person to be handling each one.
Many times, the right person for mental health and drug related calls is not a police officer, but a social worker who can help that individual get the help they very obviously need. I am not suggesting that an officer should not be on hand for calls like this. They should be present to protect and aide civilians who are fulfilling other critical services, like social workers and EMT’s, who need to be focused on the individual(s) who need their services. We must stop expecting police departments to be our catch-all cure for every community issue. There are better ways to ensure success for calls that require a more nuanced approach.
For example, Lansdale has (until COVID-19) a busy events schedule throughout the summer. Do we need officers staged throughout the event? Or can community members fulfill a portion of what officers are asked to do during events and have professional police officers be prepared to respond should the need arise? Obviously, not all events are the same and the answer to this question very likely is “it depends.” But in order to even entertain this type of question, we need to begin building a department that has the flexibility and scale to offer multiple services with multiple professionals who specialize in their respective fields (community events, mental health, drugs, etc.).
Our police force is excellent, and they work extremely hard to meet the high expectations that are heaped upon them at every call they receive. But, it is unfair for us to train them as jack-of-all-trades when, in reality, they are expected to be aces at every call every time they respond.
A good example of building specialized departments is the addition of Lansdale Emergency Manager Rick Lesniak. Until Rick joined our ranks, emergency management, which is a highly specialized degree, was being managed through our police department in coordination with our volunteer fire department. While both departments are critical to emergency response, neither has a specialty in planning for long lasting emergency events (like the pandemic we find ourselves in right now). Rick has been able to manage that workload while allowing the police and fire departments to play their critical role without having to be focused on every detail of the plan. This is all to say that a single person trained in a specialized field can make a world of difference in the way we approach and manage our community.
This is not meant to be taken as an excuse for when officers make mistakes. They are human and they come with all the failings that humans have. Until we can build trained social work and community civilian units that live inside our police departments, officers will be expected to serve as masters of all trades to the best of their ability. However, this design does not work and creates unreal expectations for both the officers and the public at large.
It is time to bring in specialized professionals to lead these units and help build a police department worthy of the year 2020.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert.)
See also:
Mayoral Musings: All Lives Can’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter
Mayoral Musings: Improving Lansdale Police Department Through Body Cameras
Mayoral Musings: Preparing For The Future In Front Of Us
Mayoral Musings: Happy (Belated) Mother’s Day
Mayoral Musings: Despite Dark Realities, We Cannot Be Ruled By Fear
