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Copyright © 2020, IMR Group Inc.
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20 October 2020, DomPrep Journal
The New Age of Police Reform – Part 2
Building Community Trust Through an Inclusive Police Workforce
By Joseph W. Trindal & Lynn Holland
national economy, as evidenced by exceptionally low unemployment, had been one
IACP) and the Police
Executive Research Forum (PERF
“crisis.”
The current situation with COVID-19 further
complicates existing challenges for police recruiting.
With today’s police reform initiatives and social justice
demands, recruiting and retention face an unprecedented
U.S. public confidence in police is at a near 30 year low,
according to an August 2020 Gallup poll. Public opinion varies by locale, ethnicity, and
gender. Two of the most prominent of the Peelian Principles of policing states that “the
police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary observance of the
law to be able to secure and maintain public respect” and “the degree of cooperation of
the public that can be secured diminishes, proportionately, to the necessity for the use of
in their police. Legitimacy is also linked to public trust in the police services a community
receives. The 2015 President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing prominently positioned
action. The President’s Task Force, together with several studies and reports in the U.S. and
other democratic societies, point to police workforce diversity as an important element in
building community trust and legitimacy.
In the U.S., women began entering criminal justice professions in the 19th century out
of the growing recognition of society’s special needs to best serve women and juveniles.
and enforcing new child labor laws, truancy, and addressing increased presence of domestic
violence as a result of industrial age urbanization. Police departments in San Francisco (CA),
Portland (OR), and elsewhere followed in response to the effectiveness demonstrated by the
progressive gender diversity in police service. Over 130 years later police workforce diversity
remains an elusive, essential element of police reform. Today, American society has a much
richer understanding of diverse communities coupled with an expectation that police service
must justly serve their communities.
Source: https://www.domesticpreparedness.com/resilience/new-age-of-police-reform-part-2/
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October 2020, DomPrep Journal 21
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Barriers to Police Diversity Impede Community Trust
Addressing barriers to careers in the police profession enables police departments to
barriers – internal and external – to careers in police professions. Similarly, there are
and community leaders must better recognize, address, and overcome, to the fullest extent
possible, internal and external challenges to inclusive recruiting, hiring, and retention, without
ranks are leaving the profession. Also, agencies should expect greater job migration across
the police profession and jurisdictions.
Attracting diverse young people requires different outreach approaches that connect with
a diverse pool of prospective applicants with the wide range of police specialization. Police
careers in the 21st century offer many technical tracks that, if effectively publicized, can
resonate with every aspect of the diverse
communities served. Successfully diverse
police departments and agencies use an
array of marketing materials depicting
various aspects of policing, designed for
target audiences as well as reaching out
through various social media sources
and in-person recruiting sessions with
targeted groups. Effective recruiting today
requires well developed strategic planning,
inclusive leadership, and nontraditional
execution. However, one of the greatest barriers police leaders and recruiters must overcome
is the growingly negative public perception of policing. Inclusion and leadership are powerful
countermeasures to negative perception through building legitimacy and trust.
Guardian Versus Warrior Policing
The public and many people within the police profession view law enforcement through
an enforcement or warrior lens. For decades, police have been characterized as the front
line on the “war on crime” and “war on drugs,” as well as the domestic front of the “global
war on terrorism.” The entertainment industry has helped feed this warrior narrative with
substantial help from “Dirty Harry” movies
prevention and community partnership. The dichotomy between warrior versus guardian
models of policing is still debated, principally in context of use of force issues. However, these
distinctions are also relevant to attracting and retaining workforce diversity. Although both
models have a place if prudently applied in relevant police situations. The predominance
performance, workplace conditions, and the types of people serving within the department.
This then directly impacts community trust and police legitimacy.
Challenges in police stafng present
opportunities for reform strategies
that bring police services more close-
ly connected with their communities
of service.
Challenges in police stafng present
opportunities for reform strategies
that bring police services more close-
ly connected with their communities
of service.
Copyright © 2015, DomesticPreparedness.com, DPJ Weekly Brief, and DomPrep Journal are publications of the IMR Group, Inc.
Page 22
Assistant professor Kyle McLean of Florida State University describes the warrior
mindset as traditional police methods of searching for, chasing down, and apprehending
criminals. The guardian police mindset, however, ascribes to the public service community
engagement, crime prevention, and public assistance as priorities. Recruiting materials that
which inherently emphasizes male-dominated aspects of policing. It also implicitly creates
barriers across wide-ranging, underrepresented groups who may otherwise consider careers
in a public safety policing profession. The reality of police service is that very little patrol and
investigative time is spent on high-risk, dynamic action.
Police training, often designed on military training models, further reenforces a crime
John Steinbeck is often
judgement, excellent situational awareness, critical decision-making abilities, and effective
public interaction. Studies cited in an April 2020 article in Police Chief Magazine found that
to pursue a police career. Effective recruiting, training, and development, coupled with a
model (and mindset) to any situation and master the self-control needed to defuse and
resolve tense situations while optimizing public trust.
Negative Public Perception – An Obstacle to Police Diversity
Negative public perception of police poses internal and external barriers within
applicant pools – perceptions may vary depending on applicants’ demographics, education,
socioeconomic situation, and experience. Police agencies must work to clearly understand
public perceptions among different groups and neighborhoods within their jurisdiction. An
October 2020 survey in Maryland reveals a predictably wide gap between Black and White
residents with nearly twice as many Blacks reporting an “unfavorable” view of police. As
an example, Maryland police agencies must focus on overcoming this unfavorable view by
changing external messaging, changing internal policies and procedures, and addressing
diverse community’s perceptions with demonstrated performance on a community-by-
community basis. Progress and achievements in police services must be widely publicized –
internally and externally – within the ranks as well as throughout the communities. For the
prospective applicants from communities holding “unfavorable” views of police, it is much
harder to pursue career aspirations in police service when faced with ridicule from friends
and family.
Negative perceptions are not limited to racial or cultural characteristics. The police
profession continues to be viewed as a male-dominated career field. Gender inclusion, like
other groups, is vital to aligning police values and vision with those of communities. According
to the Pew Research Center, women continue to be vastly underrepresented in sworn police
positions. In 2013, women comprised only 12% of sworn police workforce, while making up
51% of the U.S. adult population. Women face many barriers to police professions, although
these barriers are fewer and more subtle than in the past.
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October 2020, DomPrep Journal 23
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In 2016, New Jersey Police Training Commission (NJPTC) changed the Basic Law
higher failure rate among women than men. The previous physical conditioning testing
standard produced a 2-4% failure rate for women and a less than 1% failure rate for men.
The 2016 new standard increased the gender gap 13 times of women trainees failing the test
compared with male trainees. Under the 2016 standards, the NJPTC instituted a series of
nine tries for a trainee to pass the physical conditioning test during their of a
on their ninth try were dropped from the academy class. As reported by USA Today, in an
article by Asbury Park Press, women trainees failed NJPTC’s physical conditioning testing
standards at a rate of 31% in 2017 and 27% in 2018, while their male counterparts remained
in the low single percentile. Barriers, like those imposed in New Jersey, deny police agencies
jurisdiction. Enhancing physical conditioning programs and trainee evaluation by ensuring
direct nexus to job task analysis, while allowing for gender and age variances, coupled with
ample structured conditioning time in training has proven effective in removing barriers.
Federal agencies, many states, and the military apply data supported variations in standards
to account for gender and age while testing at the end of basic training – after trainees are
provided structured physical conditioning during training.
Madison (WI) Police Sgt. Sarah Shimko with other Ofcers of MPD’s Mental Health Unit 2020.
Source: City of Madison Police Department (2020).
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24 October 2020, DomPrep Journal
Calls for increasing female representation alone in sworn ranks of police agencies can lead
to counterproductive tokenism. As part of Los Angeles reform strategies after the Rodney
King incident, City Council called for Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to achieve over
40% women in sworn rank. Today, LAPD is slightly above the national average, with about
expressed purpose of making change, singles out the targeted group, even gender, creating
a special class within the academy sessions and in the department. It produces an unfair
culture with unrealistic and disparate expectations. Singling out a certain group or groups
is counterproductive if not coupled with whole-of-department transformation strategy to a
sustained culture of inclusion.
In terms of promotions and advancement, the special interest “escalator” can create
different, but real, problems than the “glass ceiling.” Promotions that lack trust of process
fair opportunity at legitimacy
of rank or specialty that is also counterproductive. This form of “targeted balancing” generates
higher turnover within the very groups that are essential to creating diversity and contributes
to fostering further distrust within broader communities. Gender mainstreaming, a process
of assessing implications for women and men, integrates understanding of each group’s
experiences and concerns holistically throughout the organization’s structure, hierarchy,
operations, and societal dimensions. Mainstreaming is globally proven as an effective
approach to achieving sustainable gender equality.
Police Work-Life Balance
Balancing police work with family and daily life poses special challenges for workforce
diversity. Police service is a stressful occupation. Dr. Ellen Scrivner, former deputy
superintendent for administration at Chicago Police Department observed that the police
witness more human tragedy in a few years of their career than the average
citizen experiences in a lifetime. Those experiences, coupled with the dynamic demands of
the job, pose a strain on police families as well. Policing is particularly challenging for women
to navigate work-life balance. Additionally, in the modern family structure, police careers
pose challenges for single parents and families in which both parents work. Balancing family
Shift work, unpredictable hours and job-related stresses pose universal barriers to the
profession with varying impact by group. In a July 2019 report by the U.S. Department of
Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), one police department reported a number of
similar challenges with their career balance.
All police departments and law enforcement agencies draw men and women from
American communities and – once selected, trained, and hired – the workforce continues to
be a part of the communities. While the workforce may reside outside of the actual agency
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October 2020, DomPrep Journal 25
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jurisdiction, these men and women spend their work hours as a part of the jurisdictional
community. Effective policing also requires the trust and vigorous support of the community
to prevent and report suspected criminality. Very few criminal investigations are closed
Out of the escalating policing challenges in the 21st century, police departments are
afforded unprecedented motivation to change the organizational culture and workforce to
rebuild community trust. Providing career opportunities that attract an inclusive applicant
pool include mainstreaming police workforce diversity, effectively attracting community
survival skills.
This article is Part 2 of a four-part series on New Age of Police Reform. The next part will review
prominent trends in police accountability, procedural justice, and use of force:
Podcast – Law Enforcement’s Perfect Storm 2020
Part 1 – Introduction to the New Age of Police Reform
Part 2 – Building Community Trust Through an Inclusive Police Workforce
Part 3 – Police Accountability & Oversight: Redundancies & Opportunities
Part 4 – National Police Reform: Intergovernmental Friction & Cohesion
Joseph W. Trindal, PPS, is founder and president of Direct Action Resilience LLC, where he leads a team of retired
sector organizations enhancing leadership, risk management, preparedness, and police services. He serves as
a senior advisor to DOJ, ICITAP
capabilities for democratic policing and applied modern investigative techniques. After a 20-year career with the
U.S. Marshals Service, where he served as chief deputy U.S. marshal and ERT incident commander, he accepted
the invitation in 2002 to become part of the leadership standing up the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as
director at FPS for the National Capital Region. He serves on the Partnership Advisory Council at the IADLEST. He
also serves on the IACP, International Managers of Police Academy and College Training. He was on faculty as an
instructor at George Washington University and has published numerous articles, academic papers, and technical
counterterrorism training programs. He has two sons on active duty in the U.S. Navy. A Marine Corps veteran, he
holds degrees in police science and criminal justice. He has contributed to the Domestic Preparedness Journal since
2006 and is a member of the Preparedness Leadership Council.
from the U.S. to attend specialized training at the Metropolitan Police (Met), New Scotland Yard after building a
ICITAP for the Haitian National
Police Initiative. She led the transformation of the Haitian National Police in training design, organizational
to assist women and men victimized by rape as an “act of war.” She was also selected to serve as a human rights
kidnappings, assassinations, and torture of adults and children in the Balkans. Her investigative accomplishments
as a security sector reform subject matter expert by the UN and the USIP. She serves on leadership positions with
sections and committees at the IACP, NOBLE, and the IADLEST. She earned her master’s degree as a Bush Fellow at
the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University.