CITIZENS MUST DO THEIR PART

The Safe Streets Safe Cities Conference, April 4 to 6, will tackle
chronic social problems afflicting urban society and propose
workable, compassionate ways to make cities safe. International
experts will examine modern scourges, including drugs, crime,
prostitution, poverty, and homelessness. See
safestreetssafecities.com for details.

Safe homes, safe streets and safe communities are goals we strive for
daily. Moving without fear in our neighbourhoods gives us the freedom
to work, give back to our neighbourhoods and raise our families.

Making our cities safe, however, requires more than goals and ideals.
It demands the active participation of everyone. It means community policing.

Community policing begins with neighbourhoods taking the primary
responsibility for their own safety. Rather than building bunkers and
gates to ward off crime and "undesirables," communities must create
authentic partnerships (think relationships in which responsibility
is shared 50-50) with groups and agencies of mutual concern --
including, of course, the local police department.

Community policing opens avenues for full and honest communication --
with joint decision-making and problem-solving -- between the police
and the citizens they serve.

A major drawback to community policing, however, is the very
structure of law enforcement agencies in both Canada and the United States.

Our police departments tend to be paramilitary and bureaucratic, an
arrangement at odds with true community policing.

For community policing to be truly effective and efficient, police
agencies must make deep structural changes within their organizations.

What we see, certainly in American police departments, is a
tortuously long chain of command beginning with the beat cop and
working its way up all the way to the chief (or superintendent).

Sensitive internal issues such as morale, safety and personnel moves
must be addressed swiftly, and well. In the U.S., internal
investigations and discipline can take up to a year to complete.
There's usually a bureaucratic explanation, but the delay is still
morally reprehensible and inexcusable. Justice delayed is justice denied.

The entire process needs to be overhauled, starting with a much
flatter organization.

Community partners, welcomed into virtually all areas of police
operations, can make policing more responsive and accountable to
neighbourhood needs and concerns.

There are areas, of course, where citizens shouldn't be directly
involved, such as intelligence activities, drug raids or any other
activity that would jeopardize their own safety or the safety of
officers. Nor should citizens have a direct hand in personnel decisions.

Having said that, many U.S. communities have had great success in
using citizen representatives in an advisory capacity. Citizens,
working side by side with their police, help the partnership more
efficiently and effectively identify and resolve obstacles to
neighbourhood health and safety.

Increasing citizen participation shouldn't threaten the integrity of
a city's police force, but rather strengthen its reputation and
standing, both in the community and within the larger institution of policing.

I can't imagine true community policing without civilian review of
citizen's complaints. Controversial? You bet. Police officer
resistance is based largely on a belief that citizens cannot ever
fully grasp what a cop goes through out there on the streets, and
therefore should not be allowed to sit in judgment of police actions.

It's time for us to help citizens understand the very tough job of a
police officer, and to empower a select group of them, working with
trained investigators (ex-police officers come to mind), to
investigate allegations of poor service or misconduct.

Perhaps Canada can provide a model of citizen oversight that enjoys
effectiveness, efficiency and wide credibility.

In no event should a citizen review board be allowed to deny police
officers their due process rights, or to otherwise insult individuals
whose conduct is in question.

By working together in a spirit of trust and co-operation, police
agencies, their unions, and community stakeholders can create a
powerful and satisfying partnership.

After all, the goal is the same: safe streets, safe schools, safe
homes. And a police department that enjoys an outstanding reputation
among the people it serves.