Cops across the country are being trained to replace the police ‘warriors on crime’ mentality with a different approach, one that emphasizes protection over suppression, and patience instead of zero tolerance
When I first became a cop you were expected to kick ass and take names. Of course, that was long before anti-police protests and rioting in black communities. Today it’s almost as if cops are expected to hug a thug.
The Los Angeles Times of August 21, 2015 carried a story on the training of LAPD cops and the police all across the country, training that is intended to change the traditional police ‘warriors on crime’ mentality to that of community protectors. The new training emphasizes protection over suppression, and patience instead of zero tolerance.
The Times reminds readers of LAPD’s “dark” history, when during the 1970s and ‘80s, LA cops were a “hard-charging, occupying force that raided poor neighborhoods and rounded up anyone in sight. Police stormed suspected crack houses, tearing down walls with a tank-like battering ram.”
Recently Los Angeles Deputy Chief Bill Scott told his cops that, instead of seeing themselves as warriors cracking down on communities, they need to think of themselves as guardians watching over those communities. "That means if we've got to take somebody to jail, we'll take them to jail," he said. "But when we need to be empathetic and we need to be human, we've got to do that too."
Deputy Chief Bill Murphy, who heads LAPD’s training, says "If they [LA cops] do everything right, there should be no force.” And then he issued this veiled threat, "If they don't do everything right, then there will be some serious debriefing." Wow, according to Murphy’s Law, the new LA cop is expected to be a forceless law enforcer ….. or else! What’s Murphy been smoking? Forceless law enforcers ….. how are cops expected to arrest law breakers who are not willing to be arrested?
According to the Times, “After decades of training that focused mostly on firearms and force, agencies from Seattle to New York are introducing what they call de-escalation training, which looks at ways officers can reduce tension and potentially avoid using force during encounters with the public.”
The new training comes as a response to the unrest that has come with the killing of black men by white cops.
As someone who was personally involved in the training of Texas cops in the 1970s and ‘80s, I must take issue with the hogwash put out by the Los Angeles Times. The training of Texas cops was modeled after the training of California cops. At no police department across the state did the training of Texas cops in the 1970s and ‘80s focus “mostly on firearms and force.” And the same can be said for LAPD and police departments across the country.
I do not know where the Times came up with that hogwash. Yes, there was firearms training and defensive tactics training, but that was only a small part of the Texas basic peace officer training course. Police recruits were taught the state penal code, the code of criminal procedure, criminal investigation, drug identification, arrest techniques, traffic enforcement, human relations, community relations, etc. Throughout the basic course, it was emphasized that officers were not to use excessive force and to use deadly force only as a last resort.
We did teach aggressive policing, but by that we meant policing should be proactive instead of reactive. We certainly did not teach cops to go out and kick the shit out of everybody who pissed them off or to shoot people at the drop of a hat.
And before a police recruit can be licensed as a Texas peace officer, he must pass a comprehensive test administered by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. That test covers the Commission’s mandated subjects for the basic peace officer training course. In order for the recruits to pass that licensing test, there’s just not a lot of time left in the basic training course for firearms and defensive tactics training. So much for that Los Angeles Times hogwash about training that focused mostly on firearms and force.
It is true that in many police agencies, officers were told not to take any shit from people and many officers today live by that mantra. That probably explains why a Texas state trooper recently arrested Sandra Bland after a traffic stop during which she refused his order to put out her cigarette, with Bland later hanging herself in jail.
A highly respected police official defended the Texas state trooper’s action by saying: “As soon as a lawful order is refused and not just a little back talk, she should have been arrested. Once an officer says, ‘You’re under arrest,’ that is a non-negotiable order. It is a big deal if someone gives a cop a bunch of lip during a legal detention! That's why cops are being hurt.”
That’s not exactly in line with the new policing by “patience instead of zero tolerance.”
I cannot argue with the need for more and newer training, but hey fellows, let’s not go overboard and make cops feel like they should say, ”Sir, please accept my sincere apology for offending you,” anytime a person gets agitated for being stopped by the police. And if activists had their way, we would be training cops to “deescalate” the situation after a black thug points a gun at them. How about: “Now sir, there’s no need for you to pull that gun on me. I would appreciate it if you would put it back in your waistband.”
No matter how much new training LAPD cops and cops throughout the nation undergo, you are still going to have some cops using excessive and deadly force. And when a cop feels that his life is in immediate jeopardy he will resort to the use of deadly force. Whenever cops use excessive or deadly force in the black community, unrest fueled by militant groups like ‘Black Lives Matter’ is very likely to follow.
The new training is designed to produce a kinder, gentler, caring cop. Recently, I did a spoof on the Ferguson police department, turning it into an all-women department. You know what ….. kinder, gentler and caring are qualities women have. Men who join up to be cops are not the kind, gentle, caring types. So it appears as if LA Deputy Chief Bill Murphy is looking for LAPD to become a police force of mostly forceless women.
I don’t know whether Murphy really believes what he’s telling the troops, or whether he’s just mouthing what higher-ups have told him to say. I’ve got news for the LAPD hierarchy ….. You need warriors on crime, especially in places like South LA. Men do not join the police to be kind, gentle and caring. They join up to be warriors on crime, just like you did many years ago.
Any training designed to restore trust of police in the black community must emphasize that cops treat everyone the same way they would want to be treated themselves if the roles were reversed, but only up to the point where an officer’s safety appears about to be compromised.
The problem is that cops, like all human beings, are prone to lose their tempers. Most cases of excessive force happen when a cop gets pissed off at someone. Then his emotions take over and he loses self-control. No amount of anger management training or head shrinking is going to change that. There will also be those moments of panic brought on by some action of a suspect that will cause officers to use their guns instinctively. And no amount of head shrinking will change that either.
Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern law enforcement, said “No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect command of temper.” True, but if you want a cop with a perfect command of temper, you’ll have to call for Robocop.
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