May 2026
FROM BERLIN AGREEMENT TO AUSCHWITZ REFLECTION: GLOBAL POLICE LEADERS REFRAME THEIR DUTY
Continued from page 10
That emphasis on prevention was echoed across the delegation. Rui Neves of the Portuguese police force made the point directly.“ We are trained to respond when something happens,” he said.“ But the real issue is how often we ignore what comes before, such as patterns of discrimination, dehumanizing language, intimidation.” Those signals may not cross a legal line, but ignoring them, he added,“ is not neutrality; it is a failure in prevention.”
That perspective extended beyond Europe and North America. Virginia Nelson, assistant commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, emphasized that“ the people piece is really the role of leadership,” underscoring the importance of compassion and connection in maintaining public trust.
Alvince Osura, chief inspector of the antiterrorism unit of the Kenyan Police, pointed to resilience and community partnership. Working closely with Jewish communities in Nairobi, he noted that sustaining trust with vulnerable populations is a core policing responsibility.
Accountability inside the ranks Others turned inward.
Chris Davis of the Boise( Idaho) Police Department emphasized active bystandership within the ranks, challenging unethical behavior regardless of position. Preventing abuse, he argued, requires ethical leadership and accountability at every level.
That principle was reinforced during an unplanned moment in Krakow, when members of the delegation heard a racial slur directed at one of their own. Dehumanization begins with words that are tolerated or unchallenged. For police, the question is not only how to respond to major incidents, but whether they are prepared to act in these smaller moments.
At the organizational level, Joseph Lankford, a captain with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, stressed the need to reinforce core values, including fair treatment, the rejection of bias, and resistance to dehumanization. That work, he noted, requires not just training, but education: understanding how policing was misused in the past and applying those lessons to modern democratic practice.
Even in custodial settings, the lessons carry weight. Keri Adcock, a major with the Denver Sheriff Department who works in a jail setting, reflected that while modern corrections operate within legal and human rights frameworks, the experience of Auschwitz reinforced the obligation to preserve dignity in all circumstances.
Bob Davits of Antwerp( Belgium) placed these ideas within a broader ethical frame.“ Police officers should engage with remembrance education as part of their professional ethics,” he said, emphasizing awareness of bias and the importance of acting with humanity and restraint.
The responsibility going forward
Communities will continue to call police when they are most vulnerable, whether at a celebration, a place of worship, or a public gathering.
As Vice-Chair Ben Haiman of the University of Virginia summarized,“‘ Never Again’ is not a slogan— it is a standard of responsibility for modern police leaders.”
In the end,“ Never Again” depends less on how police respond to violence than on whether they act in time to prevent it.
Michael Gips, the former Chief Global Knowledge Officer and Chief Security Officer for ASIS International, is a renowned expert in global security. He has worked on the ground and presented in such locations as Madrid, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, London, Warsaw, Mexico City, Istanbul and Tel Aviv. He has won multiple awards for his security work and professional writings and has published more than 1,000 articles. He is an officer of the Global Consortium of Law Enforcement Training Executives( GCLETE), an advisor at Cardinal Point Strategies, and a principal at Global Insights in Professional Security.
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