Vaccine for Police Reform
Regardless of their size , every law enforcement agency is faced with the same challenges and held to the same legal and professional standards . Inevitably , every police leader will be faced with challenging events including fiscal constraints , high profile criminal incidents , personnel issues , and legal claims . The difference between the chief executives who successfully maneuver through these events and those who do not is the level of development and preparation they have made individually and collectively throughout their organization . As we have seen in recent months , some of the events affecting every department in Georgia are the result of misconduct by police officers in other parts of the country . Honestly , some of the criticism is legitimate . There is no way those officers ’ behavior can or should be defended . This kind of behavior does not occur without some prior indication that should have alerted the officer ’ s supervisors and administration . For too long many in our profession have taken the easy route and done as little as possible . As a result of these officers ’ behavior , there has been ongoing
20 FALL . 2020 public outcry for police reform . This outcry has already led to several states implementing restrictions on agencies ’ use of force options , investigative procedures , and reporting guidelines . Each of these restrictions is the result of some agencies failing to perform as they were expected .
Additional demands for police reform are coming to agencies across the nation . With the advent of social media and the connectivity of individuals , change is occurring at a faster pace than at any time in history . Police leaders can embrace this reality and be an integral part of these processes or they can have it forced upon them . Those who are not engaged in the on-going development and improvement of themselves as well as their people , processes and resources will likely have arbitrary restrictions placed upon them . Unfortunately , the poor performing individuals and organizations are unfairly represented as the norm across the nation .
Individual agencies can have the reputation of being a high quality organization that provides exceptional service with well trained , caring personnel or as an organization that only seeks to maintain the continuity of mediocrity . Departments in the former group build up goodwill with their communities . Citizens respond to the inevitable negative event with support noting it is not representative of the agency ’ s reputation . If the incident did happen as portrayed , it will be promptly corrected . Those departments from the latter group will not receive the support of their community , who recognize it as just another example of the agency ’ s mediocrity . Eventually these agencies will become the target of public criticism , inquiries , investigations , terminations / resignation , and possibly abolishment .
There is , however , an established process agencies can implement to minimize negative events and insulate agencies from unfounded criticism – State Certification . The Georgia Law Enforcement State Certification Program provides a comprehensive blueprint for agencies to ensure effective , professional law enforcement services for