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**U.S. Department of Justice**        Office of Community Oriented Policing Services            145 N Street, N.E.       Washington, DC 20530      www.cops.usdoj.gov×         Menu         - Home
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Police for Tomorrow: Creating a New Generation of Leaders
 March 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 2

Law enforcement officers are frequently faced with  situations—most often with juveniles, individuals suffering from mental  problems, and people who are homeless—in which arrest is not the most  appropriate action. Sometimes, a more positive outcome can be gained from  alternative responses. But relying on one’s own discretion is not an easy call,  especially for a new officer. Nor is it the right one unless it is free of bias  and based on good judgement.

 To encourage the kind of thinking that leads to the most  judicious, humane, and effective policing—and as a result, better community  relations—Metropolitan  Police Department of Washington, D.C., (MPD) and Georgetown  University’s Law Center have collaborated on a unique new workshop  program called Police for Tomorrow.
Improving Community Relations through Creative Approaches to Policing
The brainchild of Rosa Brooks, a law professor at  Georgetown University who became a reserve officer in the MPD in 2016, Police  for Tomorrow was developed in response to the need for improving relationships  between law enforcement and their communities, especially those of color. 

 Ms. Brooks, who jokes that her lifelong love of detective novels  inspired her to join the MPD, became increasingly aware of the need for change during  her time at the police academy. “I trained around the time of the Ferguson shooting,  the riots, and the Dallas ambush. The racial divide between police and their  communities seemed so vast and detrimental to both groups. And I thought that  there should be a program dedicated to serious discussion of how we could  improve relations between police and all the people in their communities.” 
Discussing Day-to-Day Challenges and Overarching Issues 
Designed to inspire and challenge new officers to be  creative in their approach to law enforcement solutions, Police for Tomorrow is  a two-year fellowship program focused on topics such as use of force, interactions  with homeless individuals, handling disruptive teenagers, and mending frayed  relations with minority communities. 

 Open to both sworn and civilian personnel who have been on  the job for one year or less, the program comprises monthly workshops and community  activities organized by faculty from Georgetown Law’s program on Innovative  Policing. 

 Among the topics covered are new approaches to policing,  current issues in criminal justice, the role of police in a diverse and  democratic society, race and criminal justice, and the future of policing. Some  workshops are led by speakers from community organizations, universities, and  government, and all the fellows are offered an opportunity for mentoring by  senior MPD personnel.
Developing a Better Understanding of Where People Are Coming From
Through lively debate, mentoring, and the educational  component, the fellows are encouraged to look for the underlying causes of  problems and consider the long-term as well as immediate effects of their  response to an illegal activity. In a typical workshop, they learned to not overreact  to teenage orneriness by receiving a lesson in adolescent brain development  from a psychiatrist, followed by a meeting with high school kids to talk about  how they view police. 

 According to Ms. Brooks, the most powerful workshop so far  was on homelessness, led by a former federal law enforcement officer who became  homeless himself. “It was a mind-blowing talk about how frightening his nights  on the street were; there wasn’t a dry eye in the group. Afterward, we visited  a local homeless shelter. One of the fellows said ‘I didn’t really understand  the situation of the homeless until now. I have a deeper sense of empathy and  understanding of how my behavior can make things better or worse for them.’”

 However, the most challenging topic is race. “Implicit  bias is hard to understand,” says Ms. Brooks. “There are officers who have been  racially profiled themselves and believe the whole system is rife with bias. But  White officers often don’t see it; they say the only color they see is blue. We’ve  had probing discussions of how race affects policing in our workshops.”
Student Motivation and the Learning Environment Are Crucial to Success
At the end of the program, the fellows complete a capstone  project in community service or research. One put together a workshop on  diversity and cultural competence; another did research on best practices in  police academy training; but most did more service-oriented projects. All who  finish the program receive a certificate from the Georgetown University Law  Center Program on Innovative Policing.

 The fellows are a diverse group—men and women who were  selected based on their resumes, essays about law enforcement and social issues,  and prior experience in community service. When asked how other agencies could  successfully replicate the program, Ms. Brooks said that participation should  be completely voluntary, an extra duty aside from the officer’s regular job: “You  want people who really want to be there and engage.” 
A Model and Testing Lab for Other Police Departments
She also stressed the importance of ensuring that the  environment is one in which officers feel comfortable about expressing their views,  which is something young officers aren’t used to doing. “In addition to giving  them a way to express their concerns, it gives the executives a chance to learn  what they are really thinking and seeing,” she said.

 Ms. Brooks and her teaching colleagues want to use Police  for Tomorrow as a lab to develop similar programs for other municipalities and  departments to use. We want to build up a library of materials anybody can use,  a list of speakers, and other resources,” she said, adding that New Orleans has  reached out to them and is hoping to do their first workshop soon. “It’s a good  program for recruitment and retention purposes too,” she added.

 When asked how to determine the effectiveness of the  program, Ms. Brooks noted that it couldn’t be done with hard data such as crime  statistics but that some departmental leaders say they have seen a positive change in the  officers on the street and that they have gotten positive feedback from the community members. “For some, simply knowing about this program has in itself bolstered  community trust,” she says.
Thinking Outside the Box and Knowing When Arrest is Not the Answer
Feedback from the fellows has been overwhelmingly  positive, eliciting comments such as “It opened my mind to thinking outside the  box.” and “The fact that MPD gave us this opportunity has changed my view of  the agency’s future goals and makes me prouder to work for MPD.”

 Department leaders have been equally positive. Said MPD  Commander Ralph Ennis, “I sat in on some of the speakers‘ [presentations]. The  students engaged in dialogue with them, asking complicated, probing questions. The  program gets young officers thinking about our policies, decisions that have  historically been made by high-level management. This makes them not only  better suited to making good decisions in the community but [also] better  qualified to explain these policies to other, newer officers.” 
A Focus on Positive Outcomes
According to Ms. Brooks, policing has traditionally focused  on arrests and what people cannot do. This program gets officers thinking outside  the box and encourages empathy, leading the officer to see the person as well  as the crime. 

 Commander Ennis offered this example of how it might  change an officer’s approach. “If a woman is caught shoplifting baby formula,  for instance, arresting her won’t solve what may be the real problem, [which  is] her lack of money or family support. And the collateral damage—no baby food  and the mother in jail—has a negative impact that outweighs justification for  the arrest. We want officers who can come up with good solutions to the underlying  causes of problems and build strong relationships with their communities.  Programs like this can make that happen.”

 Faye Elkins          Senior Technical Writer 

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The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

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