No One Is Coming
It Will Take Leadership To Fix Our Profession
When Cambridge (MA) Police Sergeant James Crowley went to work on July 16, 2009, little did he know that a misdemeanor arrest would be the catalyst for an attack on the law enforcement profession that has not let up to this day.
A few days after that fateful night, President Obama told America on live television that not only did Cambridge officers act “stupidly" but he moaned about the “long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately…”
Never mind that Sergeant Crowley didn’t stop anyone that night and it was Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates that broke into his own home, which caused a 911 call of a possible burglary. The President didn’t seem to care that Gates bludgeoned Sergeant Crowley with disrespect and accusations of racism while refusing to provide his identity.
Whether the former president had intent or not, from that day forward, the profession has been unable to defend itself among an onslaught of attacks surrounding disproportionality, disparity, equity and just about any other word that we never heard prior to 2009.
But our profession saw something in the aftermath of 2009 that we rarely see today. President Obama was bombarded by police organizations, police chiefs and citizens defending Sergeant Crowley against the unfair attack brought on by the commander in chief.
To President Obama’s credit, he swiftly apologized and invited Sergeant Crowley to the White House for a beer.
But that was then and this is now.
The criticisms and attacks would only build in the years that followed and rather than take that 2009 incident as a warning, our leaders seemingly enjoyed the beer just a little too much and they weren’t prepared for what was to come.
From Baltimore, to Cleveland, to Ferguson, Minneapolis and so many more, leaders as a whole stopped defending and just did whatever they were told. Every single incident, regardless of the facts, was treated as if the entire profession was guilty and not even our leaders questioned it.
They just followed whatever reforms or changes they were told to do.
The Art of Self Preservation
While there is no doubt that our profession does have some excellent leaders, far too often we are seeing nothing more than self preservation as we are now observing a recruiting and retention problem along with violence like we haven’t seen in decades.
The attacks keep on coming with constant questions about qualified immunity, stop and frisk, the need for crime suppression units and accusations that stopping cars is nothing more racist pre-textual stops. Our refusal to fight for these basic police procedures, that remain constitutional, are costing lives and that is especially true in the African America community.
No One Is Coming
No one is going to fix the law enforcement profession but law enforcement and particularly, leaders must start leading now or it will only get worse. That begins with leadership looking in the mirror and acknowledging that they got us here and it’s time that they work to get us back to sanity.
I rarely discuss the training that I conduct here but this topic is too large and expansive to cover in just one article. I will be in several cities in 2024 conducting “The Courageous Police Leader,” designed to provide practical leadership training that can help every law enforcement professional at every rank.
If you are interested in the training, you can reach out to my team and mention that you saw this post. They will place a discount on the purchase of the class or increase the seats for your agency if you would like to simply host the training.
Until next time…Lead On & Stay Courageous!
Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.
Did you ever comment on the kneeling epidemic in 2020? Chief of Department Monahan led bosses in the NYPD from anti-police protest to protest and in unison white shirt clad Lieutenants, Captains, up to himself (the highest ranking uniform member) would literally prostate themselves in front of activists screaming "NYPD KKK". There's some great pictures of the rank and file just looking on totally disgusted; exactly ONE Lieutenant had the courage to apologize to the entire department on interdepartment email (no idea if he was disciplined or not).
THIS is what has to be fought. Police bosses with well over 20 years on, with exactly nothing to lose (your pension is garenteed from anything except a felony conviction), refusing to muster to courage of a single conviction to defend what they presumably stood for their entire lives. One wonders exactly what they did, or how much of what they accomplished was simply back room intrigue and nepostism.