A group of community elders and leaders — grassroots and grass tops — met to have a proactive conversation about what we wanted in the next chief of police. As part of the deliberations we also heard the voice of parents who lost their children to gun violence.
At the core of the conversation was the recognition that Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) has (to continue) to recognize our collective humanity.
I relinquish my column to their discussion by offering their observations below regarding the next IMPD chief.
The next IMPD chief should:
Professionalism
- Be an individual with demonstrated high moral, ethical and professional behavior and attitudes.
- · Be a highly competent public safety professional with an understanding of and philosophy about policing in an economically stratified community with an overwhelming poverty rate and many deteriorating neighborhoods.
- Have a history of seeking professional development experiences and leadership opportunities that would equip that individual to lead a highly professional, technologically advanced workforce.
- There should be a commitment to 21st century policing principles of legitimacy, trust and respect. This should include de-escalation techniques as well as the utilization of technology such as body cameras.
- Must be respected by IMPD rank and file as well as broad cross section of the community.
Community Safety
- There should be a commitment to combatting gun violence. It not only impacts the victims but also family members and neighborhoods who bear witness and must contend with either the violence or its aftermath.
- Be committed to the announced police reforms including the development of a use of force board with civilian oversight.
- Have a data driven crime-fighting plan, especially to address the incidents of homicides, shootings and aggravated assaults, especially among young African American males. This plan should also recognize that crime prevention from the police and community perspectives might look different. There should also be a consideration of the implications of arresting for numbers versus arresting to remove dangerous individuals off the streets.
- Should embrace place-based strategies such as harm spots and small patrol beats with and emphasis on problem solving tactics and diversion.
- There should be a commitment to prioritizing witness protection funding within the IMPD budget in order to reasonably support those individuals who do come forward with information but fear for their lives.
- There should be a commitment to increase the number of detectives, diversify the unit as well as improve communication with victims of crime.
- There should be a commitment to officer mental health as well as enhanced training on how officers interact or respond to individuals experiencing episodes. The community is suffering from untreated trauma and this must be taken into consideration in community and police interactions.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Have demonstrated a commitment to racial, ethnic and gender diversity in recruitment, hiring, promotions and professional development opportunities including within merit and appointed ranks of the command staff. This should include a plan with reasonable timelines for increased representation of Black, Latinx and other racial and ethnic groups as well as throughout the rank and file of IMPD including command staff.
- Have demonstrated a capacity to successfully communicate and engage with the Black, Latinx, Asian and immigrant communities and with others protected populations including the elderly, youth, the LGBTQ community and the disabled.
- Be committed to communicating racial disparities in victims of crime as part of reporting out crime statistics.
Communication, Engagement and Transparency
- Must have a strong presence in the community, which would include attending events large and small.
- Must have demonstrated proficiency in communicating with the rank in file within the police department, traditional and social media savvy and the ability to engage with diverse groups within the business, civic and social service community. Face-to-face meetings with community groups, participation on panels and other community involvements would be important and desired activities.
- Must have a plan for optimizing transparency without undermining law enforcement activities.
- Should be able to clearly articulate a rationale for the support of current IMPD program involvement ranging from violence reduction to community relations to recruitment, hiring, and promotions as well as be able to defend the termination of other programs.
- Must be able to anticipate and plan for the aftermath of IMPD operations within a community as well as understand the role of proactive engagement within the context of community policing.
- The chief must understand community stakeholder engagement and management including the role of accountability partner as well as credible disseminator of relevant information to advance public safety objectives. The person should be able to communicate effectively with various police organizations, auxiliaries, district police advisory groups, the mayor, city-county council and other public servants at all levels of government.
Finally, the candidate who doesn’t fully meet these criteria should have the capacity, tenacity, commitment and respect for community expectations to develop missing competencies with a clear plan for personal and professional development.
The elders told me to share the conversation — so any omissions or oversights are my own. Additional thoughts should be posted on the African American Coalition of Indianapolis (AACI) Facebook page.
Marshawn Wolley is a lecturer, commentator, business owner and civic entrepreneur. Contact him at marshawnwolley@gmail.com.
