THE director of the
F.B.I., James B. Comey,
recently offered an explanation for a reported uptick of violent crime in some of our cities. “A chill wind,” he said, “has blown through American law enforcement over the last year” — a reference to the so-called Ferguson effect that increased scrutiny on police conduct has led to reduced law enforcement in some urban neighborhoods.
I share his concern about any crime increase. I hear the fears of many of my Brooklyn constituents about the gun violence that plagues pockets of our borough. But I disagree with Mr. Comey that scrutiny of police behavior is the problem. I believe it’s part of the solution.
First, let me take you back to the way policing used to be. Years ago, a group of men walked into a Harlem bar with bats and hatchet handles. Moments later, they’d left their calling card: broken bones and fractured skulls.
This wasn’t a robbery, but restitution. Earlier in the day, a young patrol officer had been attacked by unruly patrons of the bar. This cop’s off-duty brothers in arms made sure to give anyone there a strong “attitude adjustment.”
My New York Police Department instructor shared this story with me and my fellow recruits to explain “shaking the tree” — how the community had a price to pay for the assault on an officer. No one would dare report the incident, we were told, because it would be the officers’ word against the public’s — no contest.
For many years, this was the world in which our nation’s police agencies operated. What happened in the darkness of inner-city streets was between the police and whoever was on the other side of the nightstick and, on occasion, a gun. The police reports all read the same: The suspect had a shiny object, he reached for something, he forced me to act in self-defense.
This was an inextricable part of the policing culture in America, and many Americans benefited from these aggressive tactics if their streets were safer. Frankly, we as a nation ignored how people were treated to get the results.
Contrast that era with today. Any civilian with a smartphone can now document a true account of a police encounter. Every time police officers take action, they should assume they’re being recorded.
Even for an overwhelming majority of officers who uphold their duty to protect the public with honor and respect, this has had real psychological impact. Rarely has a profession with so much unchecked power been checked in such emphatic fashion by ordinary civilians, not the government.
It’s clear that reckless aggression won’t go unpunished. Back in the era of darkness, a harsh tackle and undue handcuffing — even of a celebrity like the tennis star James Blake — would have been resolved with, at best, an apology from the officer or, more likely, a disorderly conduct arrest to cover up the error. But a phone camera in the hand of any passer-by means that a cover-up is not an option. The shooting in April in North Charleston, S.C., of Walter Scott by Police Officer Michael Slager brought this into sharp focus.
Some officers resent and fear the idea of being second-guessed. But as a former officer myself, I recognize this as discomfort at being scrutinized
at all.
There is anger in police departments across the country among officers who feel betrayed by a public that gained by the old-school tactics. But the problem is that the profession is not adapting fast enough.
Police departments have no choice but to embrace the notion not only that scrutiny is inevitable, but also that it will lead to better policing. This includes the adoption of body cameras. We should have body cameras at all times and release footage in all situations, provided that such release would not compromise public safety. Law enforcement should embrace this because the record shows that advances like dashboard cameras more often than not vindicate good police work.
We must shine a light on all of this. New technologies like body cameras need to be part of a forward-thinking mind-set that encourages cooperation and puts safety first, for the police and the community alike. The era of darkness is over.
