A Strong Leader Is Needed For The Baltimore Police Department

So, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took the bold step of firing Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts in Baltimore today.  This is an interesting development.  The Mayor stated that this was a difficult decision for her.  I beg to differ.  I think her most difficult decision still awaits her.  She must now decide who will be her next commissioner.  Considering all the ugly publicity the City of Baltimore has received lately, that will be a very tough post to fill.  This particular article will touch on a couple of subjects.  First, I will discuss some leadership issues that I have noticed that the new commissioner must tackle almost immediately.  Second, I will discuss some policing strategies that I feel would benefit the good citizens of Baltimore while reducing the violent crime rate.

As everyone by now knows, there are a number of leadership issues that became apparent to the nation after the death of Freddie Gray.  Now, let me state clearly from the start.  This article will not address any of that case.  Instead, I mention it only because it is the case that brought the City of Baltimore to the national scene, this time.

As most of the readers here already know, city officials like the mayor or district attorney are elected.  As such, they choose their leaders of the various divisions or departments.  These are known as political appointments.  Typically, the people assigned to those positions serve at the “pleasure of the mayor,” or other elected official.  So, when the going gets tough, the heads of those departments or divisions are typically held accountable.  The politicians are held accountable only once their terms are up and they run for re-election.  The voters may then decide if the person has held up their end of the bargain.  So, my position is that Mr. Batts was a scapegoat.  Having said that, he did deserve to lose his job.  I’ll speak more about that later.  I also believe that Mayor Rawlings-Blake should also resign.  She will not, but she should.

When the citizens of Baltimore decided to riot, it was immediately apparent that the officers were told to “stand down.”  I don’t care what any politician, elected official, appointed chief or commissioner says.  Those officers reacted as though they were on orders to back off.  This was a travesty.  As a result, over 200 officers were injured while thugs were allowed to throw rocks, bricks, bottles and other deadly missiles at the officers.  Additionally, these thugs were given free reign to destroy property wherever they saw fit.  The action taken by the police officers on the street went against their DNA.  Police officers want to take action to prevent injury or property damage, especially to innocent people.  They were denied that ability. 

This decision immediately impacted the entire police department negatively.  I am not talking about what the public saw.  I am talking about morale within the locker rooms, the patrol cars, the stations, and the coffee shops.  Cops were afraid to do their jobs because they KNEW no one had their backs.  They had no support from their upper command staff or city officials.  Once troops have lost confidence in their leaders, there is nothing left.  Morale takes a nosedive. 

Supervisors don’t want to supervise at all, at this point.  Why should they?  They are the ones that will be left holding the proverbial “shit bag” when it’s all over.  Troops will then decide that proactive policing is simply not worth their efforts.  Why should they proactively go after criminal activity when they know they’re automatically guilty of some kind of police brutality before they ever get the chance to explain themselves?  So, they stop doing proactive police work.

The cops that weren’t proactive in the beginning are even less likely to do anything now.  They weren’t doing much before; they’re doing even less now.  Once again, this also negatively affects morale.  So, Commissioner Batts had to go.  All of this happened on his watch.

So, the mayor has now named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as the interim commissioner.  I am certain that he will eventually be named the commissioner because I don’t expect there to be too many applicants for that position as long as the current mayor is still in her post.  I will also say that the morale in the Baltimore Police Department will not improve any time soon for the same reason.

As a political appointment, Commissioner Davis’s decisions will be motivated by his desire to stay employed.  Additionally, someone in that command staff made the decision, and passed that decision downward, to not take any police action during the initial stages of the riots that allowed several officers to get injured and cause millions of dollars in property damage.  Because Commissioner Davis is only the interim, I doubt he will have the ability to choose his entire staff.

The bottom line is this; the entire command staff needs a major adjustment.  No one in the Baltimore Police Department can clean house the way it needs to be.  A person from outside that agency with strong leadership skills is needed to get that city and police department back on their feet.  That is because an outsider does not have any personal relationships within the organization.  There are no loyalties to worry about and that will enable the most qualified candidates to be selected for the appropriate jobs in that department.

Now, for some strategies to help get Baltimore back to a much calmer city.  First, department heads and city leaders must meet with communities and explain to them what their strategies are.  All of these strategies have to include communities and their leaders.  After all, they live there; they need to have their voices heard and their suggestions considered.  This is how leaders gain confidence and trust in the community.

Secondly, another strategy is get the proactive officers back to policing.  There are some great cops in the City of Baltimore that are chomping at the bit to get back to arresting crooks.  They need to be allowed to do that.  And most importantly, they need their leadership to back them up.  When cops are proactive, they are perceived as more aggressive.  More internal affairs complaints are filed.  Fine…. Let the complaints come.  However, I would ensure that all of these officers are equipped with body cameras before other officers in lower crime areas.  Keep in mind, I don’t know if the Baltimore Police Department has enough cameras for every officer.

Thirdly, training is another very important consideration.  All officers would need immediate training on how to appropriately respond to hostile citizens.  They would also receive refresher training on de-escalation techniques in an effort to calm fears from both the public and the officers.

Fourthly, the Freddie Gray incident needs to be thoroughly investigated from a training standpoint.  Every action officers took on that day needs to be looked at and evaluated for proper and improper techniques.  The entire department would then be trained on that case specifically.

Fifthly, a complete review of department policies needs a comprehensive review.  Should adjustments need to be made, they should be done forthwith.  The department would then receive training in that arena as well.

Finally, every officer and supervisor would be held accountable for his or her actions.  People make mistakes and cops are people.  Just because a video emerges that shows what appears to be a major beat down does not mean that’s what happened.  But, if it’s discovered that mistakes were made, appropriate discipline or training should occur.

This article only scratches the surface of the entire issue.  The next commissioner has his or her work cut out for them.  Best of luck!