NYPD Reactions To “Smart Policing” Exemplify Fundamental Problem

After the killing of Eric Garner on Staten Island, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio implemented the Smart Policing training program. The reactions from the NYPD officers who attended were anything but complimentary, with many of them reportedly having fallen asleep during the three day training. Attendees claimed the training was unrealistic and a “waste of time.” Trainees complained that there was virtually no “hands on” tactical training and that they were subjected to two days of “boring lectures.” The content of the training was also mocked by the law enforcement community, who cited training that may put the officer in danger, advising them to “close their eyes” and “breathe deeply” during high stress situations. This situation brings to light fundamental problems in the police world.

The high ranking bureaucratic leaders of large police departments have been off the road so long that they are out of touch with the types of training modern officers require. Simultaneously, the reactions of attendees who called for more physical, tactical training is seemingly shortsighted, ignoring the fact that the concepts needed to fix police problems are not tactical in nature.

The common threads of the Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice killings are that all three subjects were African American and none of the three situations were “deadly force” situations at the time the person was killed. The fundamental problems with these incidents were directly related to the officer’s ability to make sound decisions, their understanding of cultural differences, and interpretations of levels of resistance. The cries for more tactical training, while much needed, seemed to miss the point of the training. The problems in decision making and ethics start with a failure to properly train officers on the “why” of police work and focus on the “how” of police work. Officers cannot be effective if they are taught to solve every problem with violence.

While the reactions of officers appeared shortsighted, so did the content of the training. It appeared that the training was meant to be a sensitivity and ethics based course, however, by implementing training dangerous to officers, including closing your eyes during an encounter, the out-of-touch administration demonstrated just that. They are out of touch. Police are bombarded with information on every new threat discovered in the police community routinely. They are taught to treat everyone as though they were dangerous. This gives police the inclination to react with violence first and ask questions later. The failure to balance this onslaught of information thrown at them with training in high stress decision making, ethics, community awareness and stress management results in situations like Ferguson.

The problems we face in police departments across the country are complex and cannot be solved with a simple training course. As demonstrated, out-of-touch administrators who design training programs are as ineffective at solving the problem as are the shortsighted officers who just want a new technique on how to slam people. What is needed is a complete revamp of how police are selected, trained and monitored. Until this occurs, we will continue to see unwarranted police brutality in cities across the nation.

SOURCES:

VICE News,. ‘NYPD Cops Say Training Inspired By Eric Garner’s Death Is A ‘Waste Of Time’ | VICE News’. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. https://news.vice.com/article/nypd-cops-say-training-inspired-by-eric-garners-death-is-a-waste-of-time

PoliceOne,. ‘Smart Policing? Why NYPD’S ‘Closed Eyes’ Tactic Is Anything But’. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. http://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/8335302-Smart-policing-Why-NYPDs-closed-eyes-tactic-is-anything-but/

AnonHQ,. ‘Ferguson And The Use Of The FORCE MATRIX – Anonhq’. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. http://anonhq.com/ferguson-and-the-use-of-the-force-matrix/