What police departments can do to stop racist cops

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Antoine Watt and Aaron Williams, left to right, attend a rally at Antioch Police Headquarters in Antioch on April 18. Community members rallied and marched to City Hall to demand police reform and accountability in the wake of alleged racist, sexist and homophobic texts within the department. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Mercury News and East Bay Times article published April 16 What can be done about racist cops? advances several possible answers to his own question but never seems to land on what I consider to be the best: fix the problem where it starts.

The hiring process for the average police department is broken and almost tempts cops into embracing island groupthink and cliques within cliques.

Applicants must have 60 college credits, most often earned through an associate’s degree in criminal justice or related fields of study. This area of ​​education is certainly relevant to policing; it makes career choice a real all-or-nothing undertaking for the candidate. If they are not hired as officers or decide they want to move on to another field, their options may be limited to corrections, probation, or parole, but may not be the desired goal. .

There is nothing wrong with a lifelong career in policing, but currently it is not only expected but strongly (albeit indirectly) encouraged upon hiring. When I was becoming an officer in 1972, I was asked where I saw myself in five years. I answered, still here, as a sergeant, not necessarily because I believed in it but because I had been instructed by other recruits that any other answer would throw my candidacy into the trash.

These departments and the communities they serve would greatly benefit from a hiring process that secures a wider range of candidates who are less attached to the career path, and the system should be made more flexible to encourage a wider pool of hires. and deeper with backgrounds and educations beyond the recognized traditional norms of diversity. Bolstering departments with a healthy roster of officers who don’t necessarily see their policing as a lifelong endeavor would help prevent the formation and growth of racist and dehumanizing cliques that have rightly sparked outrage in Antioch. , Oakland and elsewhere in California and beyond as of late. years.

That’s not to mention the other obvious benefits of departments with more comprehensive trainings that would bring a range of perspectives and problem-solving skills to the department that creates a more representative and effective police force. Psychology, social work, or even liberal arts degrees could help shift the focus toward community engagement and de-escalation tactics and away from the island warrior mentality that criminal justice degrees have been accused of perpetuating. Business and finance majors could apply their knowledge to help make the overall operations of their departments more efficient.

A nice idea, but how are we going to achieve this diversification and attract majors seemingly unrelated to their career choices? you might be asking. And given that police departments are already struggling with a long-term hiring drought, it’s a particularly fair question.

I believe a great solution would be to make department hiring more like military recruiting, where it’s not only common, but encouraged for members to move into different careers after a few years of service. While many departments already offer higher education incentives for members, this is tied to the expectation that they will stay in the force, that their new expertise will inform their departmental work, rather than the other way around.

Despite all the rhetoric about police militarization on both sides of the rhetoric, I am surprised that neither seems to strongly advocate embracing this aspect of military service that unquestionably and unmistakably works. Financial and professional incentives similar to those provided by an ROTC-type program would bring better candidates into the police department, which in turn would benefit the community.

Eugene M. Hymanis is a retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge.

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