Many good proposals to improve policing policies have been offered over the past week that should be enacted. But material change is harder than just changing laws or words in the employee handbook. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” is true in most orgs, including PDs. 1/8
The #8cantwait campaign claims that enacting the slate of reforms “can decrease police violence by 72% (versus having none of these policies).” I'm skeptical it's this easy. Enacting policies without culture change is helpful but limited. 2/8
After Laquan McDonald shooting, the DOJ sent a team in to investigate the Chicago PD. A member of that team later told me Chicago had better policies than his last department. The problem wasn't the policies; it was that officers weren’t following the policies on the streets. 3/8
NYPD banned choke holds in 1994; Eric Garner died from a choke hold in 2014. Chicago has already enacted all policies from #8cantwait, including requiring “officers provide their name and star number,” which was violated last week. Problem solved? Unlikely. 4/8
Many departments have rules that require body worn camera activation for any stop, but they often are not. Getting good policies passed is necessary but not sufficient. Without culture change and accountability, just changing policies will have limited impact. 5/8
The easiest way to change culture in an org is through the composition of the workforce. But police chiefs have limited leverage in shaping their patrol staff. They can’t get rid of bad officers until after an egregious violation given arcane union and civil service rules. 6/8
Hard to shape through hiring as well. Many depts are short-staffed. They’re not choosing among whom to hire; they hire anyone who’s qualified. Even if depts shrink, union rules usually require LIFO, ensuring the officers remaining are the veterans (& less likely to change). 7/8
It’s relatively straightforward to pass laws or enact new department policies. It’s really hard to change the culture of 18,000 police agencies in America with limited management tools. We will need both. 8/8
