Internal Strategies for building Police-Community Trust
1.0 Introduction
Law enforcement executives are constantly striving to preserve a positive, ethical
image of their departments to the public they are sworn to serve and protect. A
community’s perception of its local police department, however, is influenced by
many variables. Every day, tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel
throughout the United States perform honorable and conscientious police work,
but irreparable damage may be done to the entire profession from even one remote
story of police misconduct or corruption. How each community perceives law
enforcement depends on each police department. How the department interacts
with its citizens, how accessible it is to the community, and how it manages
Internal Affairs issues are integral to the profession overall. It is for these reasons
that building and maintaining community trust is the hallmark of effective
policing.
Law enforcement officers have accepted a position of visible authority within their
communities and are held to a tremendously high standard of honesty, integrity,
equity, and professionalism. Public trust in law enforcement may be fleeting if
police executives do not continually reinforce sound, ethical policies and
procedures to agency personnel and to the public. Law enforcement executives,
therefore, bear the responsibility for demonstrating proper behavior, informing the
community about their department’s role in maintaining honor and integrity within
the organization, and building and sustaining a trusting working relationship
between the public and the police. Establishing Internal Affairs policies and
procedures within an agency is not just important, but essential. If misconduct
occurs, the agency should already have measures in place to investigate and
address such behavior. Internal Affairs investigations, however, should be but one
component of a systemic approach to ethical conduct. If law enforcement
executives hire the appropriate staff, deliver ethics training, establish an early
intervention system, and properly supervise staff, all of which build trust within
their communities, the Internal Affairs process may be necessary only in rare
instances.
2.0 Objectives
The major objective of this unit is to examine the best way of building trust
between the police and the community they serve. Specifically students are
expected to know the basic principle of culture of integrity and strategies therein in
ensuring effective confidence in law enforcement agencies and agents.
3.0 Main body
Community trust is an established and highly honoured relationship between an
agency and the citizens it has been entrusted to serve. It is the key to effective
policing, and law enforcement executives bear the primary responsibility for their
departments’ honesty, integrity, legitimacy, and competence (Police Integrity,
1997). To build community trust, it is incumbent on the chiefs of police and
managing supervisors to foster an environment within their departments in which
ethical behavior is expected and each individual is responsible for meeting those
expectations (Police Accountability and Citizen Review, 2002). Police chiefs who
are transparent (i.e., clear, concise, and open about their department’s Internal
Affairs process) with their constituencies, acknowledge misconduct, appropriately
deal with misconduct when it occurs, and include the public in the response to
misconduct will not only obtain, but also sustain, the respect and confidence of the
citizens in their jurisdictions. Police departments must adhere to the principles of
integrity and professionalism as cornerstones of community trust-building.
Because officers occupy a position of trust and confidence in their communities
and are afforded awesome authority to carry out their duties, any excessive use of
that authority, abuse of power, or failure to fulfil their duties can erode public trust
and reduce or destroy their credibility within the communities they serve. Every
member of a police department must understand that he or she represents the entire
agency, that personal conduct is his or her own responsibility, and that he or she
will be held accountable for all conduct, whether positive or negative.
Transparent Internal Affairs processes, although critically important to any
agency, are only one building block in maintaining community trust. A
department’s Internal Affairs practices should always be part of a larger culture of
integrity and ethical conduct. If command staff properly supervise officers, the
necessity to use the Internal Affairs function should be rare. Culture-changing
policies, programs, and training are meaningful and effective not only in
preventing misconduct and corruption in the department but also in demonstrating
the agency’s values and principles. Moreover, the police executive must ensure
that the agency’s core “value s and principles are expressed, communicated, and
reinforced throughout all aspects of the department’s operations, administration,
and service” ( Police Integrity, 1997, 47). This can be achieved by adopting a
clear, precise mission statement that directs the actions of the department.
Departmental policies and procedures
must support the agency’s mission, and must be written, clearly defined, and
enforced. These ethical standards and guiding principles should be set forth in a
manual for all personnel and should not only define acceptable standards of
conduct, but identify conduct that is unacceptable. These values and principles
must be understood and embraced by all executives, supervisors, officers, and
civilian employees within the department (Police Integrity, 1997).
Creating a culture of integrity within a department is crucial to building and
sustaining community trust, effective policing, and safe communities. A clearly
defined standard that guides all actions of every member of a department lays the
groundwork for a trusting relationship with the community. The chief must model
the values and behaviours inherent in a culture of integrity, both internally
(through hiring, training, and evaluation) and externally (through community
outreach and dialog), as demonstrated in Figure 1.
Internal Strategies for Building Community Trust
Community trust must be built on the foundation of a strong police culture that
values integrity and holds individuals accountable for their behaviour and actions.
This culture must be modelled by the administration and reinforced by supervisors
to be effective. Several components must work together to establish and reinforce
that organizational culture. When all elements are in place for a culture of
integrity, a department can be more transparent with its community, and this will
help to build a trusting relationship between the two.
Office of Professional Standards
To establish and maintain an ethical, accountable culture within a police
department that reflects the core values and guiding principles of the organization,
it is critical for the Internal Affairs function to be distinct, yet aligned with, and
supported by, the agency’s chief executive. In smaller agencies, this may mean
that the police chief alone reviews misconduct allegations and complaints.
Regardless of staffing resources, the Internal Affairs function should be
established in every agency as an Office of Professional Standards (OPS). It can
be managed by one person or several, depending on agency personnel resources,
but must be distinct because it is an essential unit ensuring behaviour
accountability to the agency leadership and the community. Midsize and large
agencies may be able to establish and maintain an OPS with dedicated and trained
staff who are responsible for building and maintaining a culture of integrity at all
levels of the organization through coordination of training and mentoring and
through managing Internal Affairs matters. To creatively address personnel
allocation and budgetary challenges, smaller agencies should explore the
possibility of partnering with other agencies to create a regional OPS that reviews
and maintains multiagency ethical standards through an Internal Affairs function.
This practice could enhance the professional development of involved staff while
sustaining a robust and consistent expectation of professional behaviour and
ethical conduct within all participating agencies.
Recruiting and Hiring
It is imperative to recruit and hire individuals who have a service orientation and
the character necessary to uphold high standards of integrity, as well as the ability
to withstand the temptation to deviate from these standards (Police Integrity,
1997). The selection process first must screen out candidates who are not right for
the profession, and then it must screen in those who exhibit the most favourable
characteristics for the profession and who fit the needs and culture of the local
department (Police Integrity, 1997). It is important for agency leadership to
determine the core competencies that they want their officers to possess, such as
compassion and service orientation. Identifying people who will likely excel in a
law enforcement career can be accomplished through a combination of medical
and psychiatric testing, personal interviews, and background investigations
(Delattre, 2006). Researchers have identified five personality characteristics that
enable a police officer to perform well: extrovert, emotional stability, agreeable,
conscientious, and open to experience. Other variables, such as fitting into an
agency’s organizational culture and situational factors such as willingness to work
in a high-crime area, are equally important when selecting and hiring potential
officers (Hughes and Andre, 2007). If a candidate possesses all five personality
traits but will not be able to handle the stress of the job, he or she is not a good fit
for this type of position.
It is important to have a comprehensive recruiting plan in place, not only to enable
an agency to recruit from traditional sources, such as the military, but from other
sources such as local colleges and universities. The recruiting plan should also
include non-traditional methods of reaching recruits through local news and print
media; having officers attend and speak at church activities, school career days,
and athletic events; and involving officers in youth programs at the local levels,
police athletic leagues, and the Boy/Girl Scouts1 (Delattre, 2006).
One way to recruit competent, ethical, and service-oriented police personnel is
through the Discover Policing web site (www.discoverpolicing.org). The Discover
Policing web site is the cornerstone of a broad recruitment initiative sponsored by
the IACP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance and aimed at enhancing the image
of policing. Discover Policing markets the benefits of careers in law enforcement
to a broad and diverse audience, from new applicants to those seeking a career
change. This resource allows job seekers to look up contact information for nearby
agencies and access links to state-specific resources and also provides hiring
agencies and prospective applicants with a platform to connect online. Also, hiring
agencies can advertise their vacancies at no cost, and candidates are able to post
their resumes. Some new hires will come to an agency from another law
enforcement department. While it may seem advantageous to hire an officer with
field experience, agencies should obtain a thorough reference from the officer’s
previous employer. An experienced officer seeking to move to a new department
may have left his or her previous agency prior to being disciplined or terminated
because of misconduct. Unfortunately, departments will often provide a neutral
reference for officers with whom they experienced behavioural problems or would
have disciplined or terminated had he or she not agreed to resign. This enables
problem officers to move from one agency to another without facing the
consequences of their inappropriate or poor behaviour. The situation could be
avoided if police departments required all new officers to sign an agreement
stating that the agency has permission to obtain a copy of the prospective
employee’s complete employment files from all prior jobs.
Training and Education
The chief of police must establish, model, and support a culture that “promotes
openness, ensures internal and external fairness, promotes and rewards ethical
behaviour, and establishes a foundation that calls for mandating the highest quality
service to the public” ( Police Integrity, 1997, 48). By doing so, the chief will
reinforce desirable behaviour throughout the department, consistent with core
values and guiding principles. This effort by the chief is sustained through initial
and ongoing training and education at all levels of the organization. Police leaders
across the United States have indicated that, in addition to police skills training, it
is important to include moral and ethical
decision making throughout an officer’s career ( Police Integrity, 1997). Training
in ethics, integrity, and discretion should begin in the police academy and continue
on a regular basis until the officer retires. Continued ethics training should include
“exercises for the formatio n and maintenance of good habits and character, as
well as exercises in value choices, ethical dilemmas, and discretion in police
work” (Delattre, 2006, 52) .
Moreover, ethical considerations should be woven into every aspect of training,
policies and procedures, and the department’s mission. From the most junior
recruit to the chief of police, all employees should receive such education and
strive to uphold these high ethical standards. The IACP’s Code of Ethics can be
used in every law enforcement agency to reinforce this standard (Standards of
Conduct, 1997). Administrative and supervisory training is essential, particularly
for new supervisors who are responsible for personnel evaluations. As an adjunct
to academy training, the IACP and other police associations provide in-service
officer and supervisory training. Local police departments should commit to
ongoing training on ethics, supervision, and other related topics from regional
police chiefs organizations, state associations of chiefs of police, the National
Internal Affairs Investigators Association, and other related organizations.
Admittedly, follow-through on such a commitment is based on the agency’s
training budget, so it is incumbent on police leaders to educate city officials
regarding the essential nature of ongoing police training. The COPS Office and
other Department of Justice agencies provide free training videos, CDs, and other
resources that can augment any training effort. Local colleges and universities are
excellent resources for police training because many now offer criminal justice
programs. Larger police agencies are often willing to provide seats in their training
sessions at little or no cost to help augment a smaller agency’s personnel training.
All avenues should be considered as chief executives commit to ongoing training
for themselves and their officers.
Evaluations and Early Intervention Systems
Consistent, periodic employee reviews and follow-up will address problem
behaviour and reduce the need for a law enforcement agency to investigate
misconduct or corruption through Internal Affairs. Evaluations enable supervisors
to meet with an employee, discuss his or her performance, and formally record
strengths, weaknesses, and expectations. Evaluations provide supervisors with an
opportunity to encourage and praise desired behaviour and to notify employees
when unacceptable behaviour has been reported. Early in the process of
recognizing inappropriate attitude or behaviour, the supervisor must communicate
his or her concern with the officer, offer assistance, and explain that the agency
will expect positive change from the officer (Kelly, 2003). The emphasis is to
identify a problematic behaviour or attitude and help the officer correct it as soon
as possible. It also is important to let the officer know that positive contributions
to the organization and community are valued and that such behaviour can be
acknowledged and that negative behaviour can be addressed. In the case of poor
performance, the supervisor can develop a Performance Improvement Plan,
identify the specific areas of concern, and use the plan to address and overcome
the noted deficiencies (Noble and Alpert, 2009). The plan should be used as
positive reinforcement, helping the employee rectify and prevent unacceptable
behaviour. Supervisors must conduct follow-up between evaluation meetings to
ensure that the officer’s performance and accountability continue to improve.
Most often used within the context of Internal Affairs, Early Intervention Systems
(EIS) and Risk Management Systems are effective in identifying, addressing, and
preventing problem behaviour before it escalates to a matter for Internal Affairs.
EIS, which come in many forms, are a series of interrelated personnel
management processes that help supervisors identify, assess, and evaluate
employees’ performance for the purpose of addressing potential concerns in a
timely manner. Part of a larger effort to raise the level of accountability in a police
department, an EIS is a valuable way to collect and analyze data on an officer’s
performance, ensuring integrity at all levels of the agency (Hughes and Andre,
2007). An EIS, however, not only reveals unacceptable performance, it should
also identify exemplary performance. While an EIS helps an officer in a non-
punitive way (e.g., referral to counselling or training), it also should reward
outstanding behaviour through awards or promotions. Most EIS use computer
systems or databases to track employee records and are housed as a separate entity
from the disciplinary system, usually within Internal Affairs units (Walker,
Milligan, et al., 2006). The EIS records are intended to track employee behaviours
and interventions by supervisors, should that become necessary. As data-driven
mechanisms of accountability, these programs rely on a broad array of
performance indicators, including use-of-force incidents, citizen complaints,
department and community commendations and awards, court appearances, and
arrest reports. Supervisors must be adequately prepared to review the data and, as
with traditional performance evaluations, conduct appropriate interventions and
follow-up with the employee (Walker, 2003). Through an EIS, many behaviour
problems could be reduced significantly, resulting in a decrease in the caseload of
the Internal Affairs unit.
Self Assessment Exercise
a. What do understand by the concept ‘culture of integrity’?
b. How can it be maintained in the quest for law enforcement?
4.0 Conclusion
This unit emphasis the need to bridge the gap between police officers and the
community they serve. Similarly the duality of purpose within which law
enforcement agents operate as member of the community first and foremost and as
members of a separate organisation formed by the society was discussed as well as
the various ways of ensuring that credible officers are recruited into law
enforcement organisations; and the mechanism in place to ensure continuous
integrity.
5.0 Summary
Building and maintaining community trust is the cornerstone of successful
policing and law enforcement. The building and maintenance of trust takes a great
deal of continuous effort. Unfortunately, the ethical work of thousands of local law
enforcement officers is easily undone by the actions of one unethical officer.
Often, the indictment of one seems like an indictment of all. Once misconduct
occurs, the Internal Affairs function of the law enforcement agency becomes the
primary method of reassuring the community that the police can and will
aggressively address and resolve unethical behaviour.
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
List and explain five personality characteristics that enable a police officer to
perform well.
7.0 References/ Further Reading
Chermak, S. and A. Weiss. Marketing Community Policing in the News: A
Missed Opportunity? Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, July 2003.
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/200473.pdf
De Angelis, J. and A. Kupchik. Officer Satisfaction with the Denver Police
Complaint Process: A Comparison of the Baseline and Post-Implementation
Surveys. Conducted for the Office of the Independent Monitor, Denver,
Colorado: 2007.
www.denvergov.org/Portals/374/documents/OfficerSatisfaction2006.pdf
Fields, C. 1999–2006 Award-Winning Community Policing Strategi es; A
Report for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Community
Policing Committee. Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services, 2007.
www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e08071596.pdf
Walker, S., S.O. Milligan, and A. Berke. Strategies for Intervening with Officers
through Early Intervention Systems: A Guide for Front-line Supervisors.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented
Policing Services, Police Executive Research Forum, February 2006.
www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e01060004.pdf
www.discoverpolicing.org:.A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal
Law Enforcement
Reiter, L. Law Enforcement Administrative Investigations: A Supervisory and
Agency Guide
to: Handle Citizen Complaints of Misconduct, Conduct Administrative
Investigations, Manage the Internal Affairs Function, and Create Reasonable
and Defensible Discipline 2nd Edition. Tallahassee, Florida: Lou Reiter and
Associates, 2004.
Thurnauer, B. Best Practice Guide, Internal Affairs: A Strategy for Smaller
Departments.
Alexandria, Virginia: International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2002.
www.theiacp.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=4B%2f4SDZtgV8%3d&tabid=392
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
and Office of
Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. Police Integrity – Public Service
with Honor,
A Partnership Between the National Institute of Justice and the Office of
Community riented
Policing Services. Washington, D.C., January 1997.
www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/163811.pdf
Fisher-Stewart, G. Community Policing Explained: A Guide for Local
Government.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented
Policing
Services and International City/County Management Association, 2007.
www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/cp_explained.pdf
Hackman, M. J. Citizen Complaints About Police Use of Force: Bureau Justice of
Statistics
Special Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs,
2006. www.ojp.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ccpuf.pdf
“Investigation of Employee Misconduct: Concepts and Issues Paper.”
International
Association of Chiefs of Police, National Law Enforcement Policy Center,
Alexandria, Virginia: 2007.
