FLETC ournal SPRING-SUMMER

VOLUME 16

2016

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTERS

J

 ARTESIA CHARLESTON CHELTENHAM GLYNCO 
2 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

When I began my career as a sheriff’s deputy in Brevard County, Florida, nearly 40 years ago 

I quickly became familiar with the importance of strong collaboration between police and the 

community. I interacted with members of the public daily, and learned the value of partnering 

with various stakeholders to help enhance public safety. In the law enforcement leadership roles 

I have taken on since then, the essential connection between law enforcement and community 

has never wavered.

Over the past year, we have seen headline after headline about discord between police and 

communities. As we consider how our profession must evolve to meet today’s challenges, we can 

only benefit from looking inward to address the issues that drive law enforcement apart from the 

people they are sworn to serve and protect. As a training organization, FLETC has an opportunity 

to inculcate in our Nation’s newest law enforcement officers and agents the importance of trust 

and collaboration with communities. 

I am pleased to introduce the Spring-Summer 2016 FLETC Journal, which focuses on the importance of law enforcement 

and communities fostering mutually beneficial and positive relationships. In this edition, you will read about FLETC’s efforts 

to convey the benefits of community policing to rural law enforcement officers. The Rural Police Officer Training Program 

shows officers how proactive problem-solving and community engagement can help address causes of crime, fear of crime, 

and other community issues. We also address how law enforcement is using social media to engage with the public in a 

variety of ways, one of the most significant of which is to facilitate disseminating information to the public both during 

times of crisis and in daily life. This edition’s legal article explores the challenges law enforcement faces when interacting 

with citizens exercising their rights. In her leadership column, Branch Chief Lauren Ware explores the power of community 

policing to forge partnerships between police and community entities, and the leadership role law enforcement must play 

in healing rifts that have been forming throughout our Nation. In “Voices from the Field,” we reached outside the FLETC 

gates to learn about how operational law enforcement agencies and community organizations are partnering to improve 

quality of life and enhance public safety. 

As thought leaders and policymakers debate how best to strengthen trust and collaboration, FLETC is committed to 

ensuring that our training inculcates respect for citizenry in our Nation’s law enforcement recruits, and helps foster trust 

and professionalism in all who train here. Last year, the President convened a Task Force on 21st Century Policing to 

strengthen community policing and trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. In this edition 

of the FLETC Journal, you will find a description of FLETC’s efforts to integrate the recommendations from that Task Force 

into FLETC training. 

As law enforcement training professionals, we have a responsibility to proactively reflect on our training in the context of 

contemporary issues. This edition of the FLETC Journal offers just a selection of what FLETC and its partners are doing to 

advance the importance of positive, trust-building partnerships between law enforcement and communities. I believe a 

large part of the answer to the challenges currently facing our profession lies in reflecting on how we can do a better job 

of understanding the people we serve. I am encouraged by the good work so many in our profession are doing to build 

relationships and foster trust, and look forward to the positive change these efforts will bring to our communities. 

FOREWORD

Connie L. Patrick

Director, Federal Law 

Enforcement Training Centers

Connie L. Patrick

Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
what’s inside ...

HIGHLIGHTS FEATURES

Reflections on 

Leadership

When Police 

Interface with 

Citizens Exercising 

Their Rights

Concerns of Police 

Survivors (C.O.P.S.)

21ST CENTURY POLICING

Finding the balance between warrior and guardian and knowing when 

to switch roles is a key training component.

12

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

Exploring diverse perspectives on community policing.

16

5

8

31

28

35

Rural Police Officer 

Training Program

Social Media and 

Law Enforcement
FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

Director

Connie L. Patrick

Executive Sponsor

Michael S. Milner

Editorial Team

Preston Farley

Alicia Gregory

Michael Hullihan

Mary Anne Lesiak

Tim Miller

John Stamp

Jen Tocco

Susan Thornton

Creative Team

Heather Santos

Christa Crawford-Thompson

John H. Lander, Jr.

The FLETC Journal is a law enforcement training 

magazine produced and published by the Federal Law 

Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). It is produced, 

published, and printed through a joint collaboration 

with the Protocol and Communications Office and the 

Government Printing Office. The printed circulation 

is 2,000 and it is also available electronically on the 

FLETC website at https://www.fletc.gov//fletc-journal.

The content of this publication is written in accordance 

with the guidelines of the Associated Press (AP) 

style. Articles, photographs, and other contributions 

are welcomed from the law enforcement training 

community and academia. Publication depends on 

general topical interest as judged by the editorial team.

The FLETC Journal’s mission is to explore and 

disseminate information about law enforcement 

concepts, research initiatives, programs, and trends 

that impact or will potentially affect law enforcement 

training.

FAST FACTS

FLETC Domestic Training Sites:

• Artesia, New Mexico 

• Charleston, South Carolina 

• Cheltenham, Maryland 

• Glynco, Georgia 

• LA Port, California

Export Locations:

State and Local Law Enforcement

• Nationwide

International Law Enforcement Academies:

Academic, Operational and Program Support

• Bangkok, Thailand 

• Budapest, Hungary 

• Gaborone, Botswana 

• San Salvador, El Salvador

• Roswell, New Mexico 

International Training and Capacity Building Programs:

• Delivered Worldwide

Consolidation: Consolidation of law enforcement training 

permits the Federal Government to emphasize training 

excellence while keeping costs low. Professional instruction 

and practical application provide students with the skills 

and knowledge to meet the demanding challenges of a 

federal law enforcement career. They not only learn the 

responsibilities of a law enforcement officer, but through 

interaction with students from many other agencies, also 

become acquainted with the missions and duties of their 

colleagues. This interaction provides the foundation for a 

more cooperative federal law enforcement effort. 

Integrated Instructional Staff: FLETC has assembled the finest 

professionals to serve on its faculty and staff. Approximately 

50 percent of the instructors are permanent FLETC 

employees. The remaining instructional staff are federal 

officers and investigators on assignment from their parent 

organizations or recently retired from the field. The mix 

provides a balance of instructional experience and fresh 

insight.

4
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

COMMUNITY POLICING—A Mechanism for Meaningful Dialogue

Q. What is Community Policing?

The Department of Justice defines community policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which 

support the systematic use of partnerships and problem solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate 

conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.” This philosophy is 

not new; community policing has been identified by that name since the 1960s, but has persisted in principle as long 

as organized law enforcement has existed. Much of early law enforcement efforts centered around the protection of 

families and then groups of families, and the members of these protective forces were naturally recruited from the very 

communities they were committed to protect. It was as obvious then as it is now: the law enforcement officer needs 

to have a vested interest in the security of the community he serves and the community needs to have the trust in that 

officer to submit to his authority in times of civil discord. The dual ownership and reciprocal conduct required to make 

this whole system function relies entirely upon the relationship between these two groups. Community policing as a 

program involves emphasizing and building upon those relationships to achieve the common goal of safety and order. 

As with any relationship, communication is key. 

Reflections on Leadership

5

Lauren Ware serves as the chief of the Forensics and Special Investigative Skills 

Branch of the Federal law Enforcement Training Centers. She was awarded FLETC’s 

leadership award for 2014 for her excellent customer service and professionalism 

with staff and students and for the quality of the training programs she oversees. 

She leads several working groups that examine FLETC’s staffing formula 

and manpower usage, and recently led her branch in the construction and 

implementation of an unprecedented seven-week forensic technical school for the 

Department of Defense’s criminal investigative organizations. In addition, she is 

an advocate for community service, working on the Feds Feed Families Food Drive, 

the annual CASA program, and by providing presentations to local school children 

in an effort to inspire them to pursue careers in science.

Lauren Ware, chief, Forensics Science 

Institute, Glynco Training Directorate
6 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

Q. What accounts for the renewed emphasis on community policing?

If we are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that there has been a breakdown of that trust and the 

relationship between law enforcement and the community it serves. This breakdown is by no means occurring 

everywhere, but the ramifications of a few highly publicized incidents affect us all. There are probably a thousand 

different contributing factors that have gotten us where we are today, but becoming defensive and placing blame on 

the part of either side is never going to move us forward. What we need right now is to resist the urge to retreat into 

our separate corners, and instead communicate with one another. This is an enormously complex issue; one that is 

rooted in history, fear, misunderstanding, shame, and preconceived notions. It is not, for lack of a better phrase, a 

black and white issue; there is a massive field of grey area that is in desperate need of conversation, reflection, and 

ultimately understanding. Even though this topic is dominating the national discourse, it is not always receiving the 

meaningful dialogue it deserves. This has a lot to do with the manner in which we so often communicate these days. 

Public statements on this topic frequently come in the form of what I call “bumper sticker arguments.” By this I 

mean the opinion or fact (often confused as one in the same) is an oversimplified, overgeneralized, personal, and 

often inflammatory statement. And why would we expect any different? This is what modern communication has 

been reduced to. Comments on Twitter are limited by the number of characters you can use, posts on social media 

only display the first few lines of an individual’s tirade, and network news outlets have long recognized they have 

mere seconds to flash a few words on a screen or have an infuriated news anchor shout something just dire enough 

that it strikes a nerve and captures the viewer’s attention. The obvious problem with this method of communication 

is that it forces very complex issues into their more extreme counterparts; out of necessity, it removes the nuance, 

it displaces the context, it emphasizes the difference, and obscures the common ground. Before we know it we are 

forced to align ourselves with one of two extremes, and we reinforce the “us” versus “them” mentality. As we have 

seen unfold, especially this past year, the focus on our differences has widened our divide. 

Q. Some may point out, and rightly so, that both parties of a relationship need to work toward accomplishment of a 

common goal. Why, then, is there an expectation that law enforcement lead this movement?

The relationship between law enforcement and the citizens we serve is not going to be healed on a cable news 

program. This relationship will be saved at the individual level, and like a stone cast into a pond, the concentric 

ripple effect will spread the impact of that individual’s action exponentially. There are already countless officers 

leading this charge and reaching out and connecting with communities. These are the stories we need to share; this 

is the conduct that represents who we are. 

Community policing is a leadership role that law enforcement should embrace. To begin, it is incredibly empowering. 

Rather than expect law enforcement officers to robotically enforce codes, community policing allows for flexibility 

as the officer is entrusted with the ability to use his best judgment and cater his actions to what is appropriate for 

each particular situation, based on his understanding of that specific community. It also emphasizes the goal of 

crime prevention through proactive measures; when successful, this produces a much safer operating environment 

for the law enforcement officer. The alternative is a reactive response to crime that has already occurred; this is 

neither safe for the officer nor the community, but is what we are left with when there is a lack of cooperation 

between these entities. 

REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

Law enforcement is united by one creed, one purpose, and one profession. The same cannot be 

said for the civilian community as a whole. It is difficult enough to organize members of one 

community, let alone multiple communities across the Nation. While there is a very real need for 

a strong community leader to emerge that will bring the citizens of this country together and acknowledge and 

endorse their responsibilities, until that happens, law enforcement is best equipped with the structure necessary 

to coordinate these unified efforts and effect widespread change. At FLETC, we have an incredible opportunity 

to influence the dynamic between law enforcement and the community, and we should leverage our collective 

knowledge, experience, and extensive reach to be a part of the solution. 

Finally, leadership is an inherent component of police work. We are expected 

to be leaders every day, whether we are in uniform or out of it. The authority 

and responsibility we have been given bring with them the expectation that 

we will set the standard, we will be the first to speak up, and we will endure 

the discomfort of vulnerability and self-reflection necessary for growth. Law 

enforcement officers always have been and always will be leaders in their 

communities. Leadership is part of our noble profession, and we will continue 

to lead in this regard. There is always the risk that our best efforts will be 

unreciprocated, maybe even ineffective; but law enforcement is no stranger to 

risk. And there is no chance of success where there is an unwillingness to fail. 

Q. Where does FLETC begin? 

Once we have accepted our leadership role in improving community relations, 

a logical question follows: where do we begin? The answer to that question is 

emblazoned in some way, shape, or form on almost every department shield or 

agency logo: “Serve and Protect.” As Lt. Colonel Melvin Russell of the Baltimore 

Police Department so passionately explained it in his recent TED Talk, law 

enforcement has done an incredible job with the protection aspect of its mission. Perhaps it is time to place more 

emphasis on the service component of our profession. After all, the time to establish meaningful dialogue with the 

community is not while the officer is in the process of protecting citizens; indeed, this is the reactive part of our job. 

The relationship-building communication and resulting mutual respect will arise from our proactive service to and 

engagement with the community. When a community’s officers distribute blankets to the homeless, serve food in 

soup kitchens, or labor at local Habitat for Humanity housing projects, they epitomize the selfless service ingrained 

in their humanity, that very quality that propelled them to pursue the calling of law enforcement in the first place. 

It is during these organized community-service activities, that trust and respect and communication will naturally 

unfold. These types of activities create the kind of environment in which community policing can flourish, but it is 

only as effective as the degree to which it is ingrained in one’s culture. It is not something you do, it is something 

you are. It is something we need to rediscover within ourselves. 

7

Leadership is an 

inherent component 

of police work. 

We are expected 

to be leaders every 

day, whether we 

are in uniform or 

out of it.”
8 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16
WWW.FLETC.GOV 9

By Robert Smoot

A police officer in a small rural American community 

prepares to start his shift. He knows he will be the 

only officer working, and the only backup available to 

assist if the need arises will come from a neighboring 

community 20 miles away. He is undeterred because 

less than a year ago he completed his basic training at 

the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) 

in Artesia, New Mexico, where he attended the Rural 

Police Officer Training Program. He understands even 

more now that he is serving as an officer why his 

basic training focused on training him to respond to 

most calls for service alone, because there are times 

when he must take action even though he has no 

backup or assistance. 

In order to meet the needs of police officers serving 

rural communities, FLETC worked in collaboration 

with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and numerous 

rural Indian tribal police agencies to develop a basic 

training program that would focus on training 

officers to respond to police calls in which they 

have little or no backup. In 2011, FLETC and its BIA 

and Indian tribal police partners began to make the 

training need become reality. For two years, they held 

numerous working group meetings to discuss every 

aspect of law enforcement training to determine 

the curriculum for the Rural Police Officer Training 

Program. 

FLETC piloted the Rural Police Officer Training 

Program in January 2013, and since that time it has 

served as the basic training program for BIA, along 

with various tribal police agencies. The program 

trains not only uniformed police officers, but also 

conservation, game and fish, school resource, and 

Village Public Safety Officers.

At first glance, the Rural Police Officer Training 

Program may seem like most other police basic 

training programs. The program covers all of the basic 

law enforcement knowledge, skills, and abilities, such 

as basic firearms, driver training, physical techniques, 

law, and use of force. What makes this program Rural Police Officer Training Program 

instructor gives guidance on crime scene 

procedures to students.
10 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

unique is not only the focus on single officer response, 

but the additional training it provides in the areas of 

community policing, domestic violence, and Indian law. 

Inclusion of these topics helps center the program on 

the importance of developing and maintaining a positive 

relationship between the police officer and citizens within 

their community.

Community policing is an organizational philosophy 

that promotes community and police partnerships, and 

focuses on proactive problem solving and community 

engagement to address the causes of crime, fear of crime 

or being a victim of crime, and other community issues. 

The students learn that the characteristics of many rural 

communities are changing, and with that change can come 

increasing crime and disorder. Many rural communities 

across America face serious problems with alcohol, drugs, 

gangs, assaults, burglaries, murder, and increased rates 

of suicide. The Rural Police Officer Training Program 

emphasizes community policing concepts to help address 

these issues, using both lecture and practice during the 

course. 

Responding to domestic violence incidents is another 

important part of the training, which covers several forms 

of domestic violence including child abuse, abuse of the 

elderly, and abuse of a domestic partner. In addition, the 

student learns that the dynamics of the family unit in 

rural communities can include larger family units and 

extended family members within a single dwelling. 

Teaching law enforcement officers how to respond and 

care for drug endangered children is also part of the 

training, where the officer learns that children in homes 

with drug labs and other drug environments are no 

longer considered as objects, but rather as human beings. 

Students learn that children from a drug environment are 

often victims of sexual assault and are often exposed to 

extremely dangerous criminal elements. 

Bureau of Indian Affairs Lt. Amanda Demontigny 

marches Rural Police Officer Training Program 

students to class.

RURAL POLICE OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM
WWW.FLETC.GOV 11

RURAL POLICE OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM

The Rural Police Officer Training Program also addresses 

law specific to Indian country, including jurisdiction, 

Indian civil rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act, liquor 

laws, and conservation law. These courses enhance 

the graduate’s preparedness to work in rural tribal 

communities. 

As the graduates of the Rural Police Officer Training 

Program return home to serve, they often return to 

communities where they grew up. They are now charged 

with law enforcement duties that often involve close 

family members or people they have known for their 

entire lives. 

This makes knowledge of community policing concepts 

vitally important to their careers. Village Public Safety 

Officers in Alaska are not armed, yet are expected to 

respond in very remote communities. Through the Rural 

Police Officer Training Program “our Village Public Safety 

Officers are more prepared than ever before to defuse 

conflict and disputes,” said Jody Potts, Tanana Chiefs 

Conference Alaska training coordinator.

FLETC has received positive feedback from officers in 

the field who have completed the Rural Police Officer 

Training Program. For example, one said, “I am better 

prepared to respond to calls because my training instilled 

in me the skills and confidence to respond to any situation 

whether or not I have back up.” Erik Crazy Bear, a 2014 

graduate and currently a BIA police officer stationed at 

the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the Havasupai Indian 

Reservation stated, “The scenarios are well put together 

for single officer training.” Describing how the training 

has him “ready to go,” Crazy Bear noted he had several 

opportunities to reflect on it. “My training kicked in 

during those dangerous situations when I responded 

alone. I take my conflict skills training with me everywhere 

I go. I took more from this academy than any of my other 

three academies.” 

What does the future hold for the Rural Police Officer 

Training Program? It will undergo its first formal 

Curriculum Review Conference in 2016, when subject 

matter experts and stakeholders will closely review it 

for updates and possible changes to ensure the program 

continues to serve the needs of law enforcement 

professionals who serve rural areas throughout our 

nation. Following the Curriculum Review Conference, 

FLETC will seek accreditation of the program, which will 

further enhance the program’s credibility and quality. 

I take my conflict skills training 

with me everywhere I go. I took 

more from this academy than any of 

my other three academies.”

—Eric Crazy Bear, 2014 Rural Police Officer 

Training Program Graduate

ROBERT SMOOT is a program 

specialist with the Artesia Training 

Management Division of the Centralized 

Training Management Directorate at the 

FLETC in Artesia, New Mexico. Smoot 

has worked in training management since 

2006 and has experience in program 

administration, academy and program 

accreditation, instructional system design, 

and curriculum development and revision. 

He was instrumental in the development of the Rural Police Officer 

Training Program and continues with the administration and 

oversight of the program. Prior to joining FLETC, Smoot served 

with the New Mexico State Police, working in uniformed patrol. He 

has served as a haz-mat officer, field training officer, search and rescue 

coordinator, and was a member of the New Mexico State Police 

search and recovery dive team. Smoot started at FLETC in 2003, 

as an instructor in the Securities Specialties Branch teaching courses 

in tactics, active shooter, haz-mat, and terrorism. He has a combined 

22 years of law enforcement service.
12 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16
WWW.FLETC.GOV 13

21ST CENTURY POLICING

A person only needs to watch the news or read a 

newspaper to see there exists an unfortunate atmosphere 

of distrust between law enforcement and the public 

in many cities around the nation. From Ferguson to 

Baltimore to Chicago, contemporary events are creating a 

changing environment for law enforcement, as agencies 

struggle with how to promote positive community 

relations while maintaining law and order. An essential 

component of a successful 

and free democracy is trust 

between law enforcement 

agencies and the citizens 

they are sworn to protect. 

This trust must exist if we 

are to have stability in our 

communities, a criminal 

justice system with integrity 

and reliability, and law 

enforcement delivering 

safe and effective policing 

services.

The Obama Administration 

has undertaken a series 

of actions to address the 

importance of lasting 

collaborative relationships 

between police and the 

public. News accounts 

over the past year 

highlight concerns that law 

enforcement has become 

too militaristic, operating more as “warriors” than as 

“guardians” of the people and the Constitution even when 

circumstances do not warrant it. Recently, Ken Hohenberg, 

Chief of the Kennewick (Washington) Police Department 

and a member of FLETC’s advisory board, provided FLETC 

staff some executive insights into policing in the 21st 

century and captured the heart of this issue. Talking about 

current challenges, he said, “... most of the individuals 

we encounter are just good people in crisis, whether it’s 

drunk driving, a domestic issue, or some other violation.” 

The chief’s point was not all of the people with whom 

law enforcement interacts are hardened criminals nor are 

they the enemy.

Striking the balance between warrior and guardian, 

and knowing when to switch roles, is a key training 

component. It must start with basic law enforcement 

training and be reinforced throughout a law enforcement 

officer’s career. Consider the recent mass casualty attack 

FLETC Director Connie Patrick briefs members of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce on 

FLETC’s 21st Century Policing project.

Most of the individuals we encounter are just good people in crisis, whether it’s 

drunk driving, a domestic issue, or some other violation.”—Ken Hohenberg, Police Chief
14 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

21ST CENTURY POLICING

in San Bernardino, California. Those officers moved 

fluidly from warrior to guardian and back to warrior at 

the final standoff with the suspects. As the responding 

officers were evacuating people from the mass shooting 

scene, one officer, personifying the guardian role, told 

the terrified group, “I’ll take a bullet before you do, that’s 

for damn sure!”

On December 18, 2014, President Obama signed an 

Executive Order appointing an 11-member Task Force on 

21st Century Policing. Philadelphia Police Commissioner 

Charles H. Ramsey and Laura O. Robinson, Professor of 

Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, 

co-chaired the task force, which was charged with 

identifying best practices and offering recommendations 

on how policing practices can promote effective crime 

reduction while building public trust. 

On May 18, 2015, the Department of Justice’s Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services released the final 

report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 

This final product generated 59 recommendations with 

92 related action items, organized within six Pillars: 1) 

Building Trust and Legitimacy; 2) Policy and Oversight; 3) 

Technology and Social Media; 4) Community Policing and 

Crime Reduction; 5) Training and Education; 6) Officer 

Wellness and Safety.

Some examples of the recommendations included the following:

1.1: Law enforcement culture should embrace a guardian 

mindset to build public trust and legitimacy. Toward 

that end, police and sheriffs’ departments should adopt 

procedural justice as the guiding principle for internal and 

external policies and practices to guide their interactions 

with the citizens they serve.

2.2: Law enforcement agencies should have comprehensive 

policies on the use of force that include training, 

investigations, prosecutions, data collection, and 

information sharing. These policies must be clear, concise, 

and openly available for public inspection.

3.5: Law enforcement agencies should adopt model policies 

and best practices for technology-based community 

engagement that increases community trust and access.

4.4: Communities should support a culture and practice 

of policing that reflects the values of protection and 

promotion of the dignity of all, especially the most 

vulnerable.

5.12: The Federal Government should support research 

into the development of technology that enhances 

scenario-based training, social interaction skills, and 

enables the dissemination of interactive distance learning 

for law enforcement.

FLETC Director Connie L. Patrick has engaged FLETC in 

assessing how the Task Force’s recommendations might 

apply to law enforcement training, and to consider 

potential modifications to FLETC’s training. FLETC’s goal 

is to ensure that its training fully prepares officers and 

agents to safely and effectively enforce the law impartially 

and ethically, provide the most realistic training possible, 

address interconnectivity across topical areas, ensure 

officers understand the context in which they will be 

working, have the capacity and resilience to appropriately 

manage public-police interactions, and better understand 

the communities in which they serve. 

Chief Matt Doering, Glynn County Sheriff’s Department, participates in a 

FLETC outbrief about actions related to 21st Century Policing.
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

21ST CENTURY POLICING

In late May of 2015, FLETC staff, Partner Organizations, 

and other stakeholders, including local law enforcement 

leaders such as Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering, 

began a three-phase initiative to examine FLETC’s law 

enforcement training curriculum to identify ways to 

support the Task Force’s recommendations. 

For phase one, FLETC established six “Pillar” teams 

made up of FLETC, Partner Organization, and local law 

enforcement subject matter experts. These teams were 

charged with conducting a comparison of FLETC’s 

training curriculum and the President’s final Task Force 

report’s 59 recommendations. The Pillar teams were asked 

to answer three questions. 

1. What is FLETC currently doing related to the Task Force’s 

recommendations? 

2. What can FLETC do differently to support the Task Force 

recommendations? 

3. In what areas do we have more questions or need more 

information/further explanation? 

The goal of this exercise was to examine whether FLETC 

training was on point in the context of emerging issues, 

determine if there are things that should be modified, 

and provide a course of action to support the Task Force’s 

recommendations from a training perspective. In July the 

Pillar Team leaders presented their findings to an audience 

of FLETC staff, Partner Organization representatives, 

subject matter experts, Department of Homeland Security 

officials, and local law enforcement officers. 

For phase two, FLETC established a Content Team that 

analyzed the Pillar teams’ recommendations, verified their 

applicability to law enforcement training, and developed 

an action plan that addressed the recommendations. The 

Content Team submitted 24 final recommendations to 

leadership for consideration in phase three. Phase three, 

currently underway, is a collaborative effort between 

FLETC and Partner Organization staff and leadership to 

evaluate the 24 final recommendations, determine what 

curriculum changes are required (to include de-escalation 

techniques and improved communication skills), and 

implement curriculum modifications as necessary. 

In the fall of 2016 FLETC will host a multi-day summit 

at its headquarters in Glynco, Georgia, during which 

guest speakers and panels of subject matter experts will 

discuss and explore contemporary issues facing law 

enforcement. FLETC anticipates the summit serving as a 

means for law enforcement trainers to identify emerging 

issues for consideration in training content, practical 

scenarios, and class discussion topics and for participants 

to gain greater understanding of the multiple sides of 

critical issues in law enforcement. FLETC is committed 

to leading enhancement of law enforcement training. 

FLETC is ensuring its training prepares those who protect 

the homeland for the contemporary and constantly 

evolving law enforcement challenges they will face in the 

performance of their duties.

15

CHARLES “CHUCK” 

DAENZER is currently 

serving as the Centralized 

Training Management 

Directorate’s senior policy 

and project analyst. He 

began his career with the 

FLETC in 2004 and 

since that time, he has 

served as the chief of the 

Counterterrorism Division, chief of the Technical 

Operations Division, chief of the Rural Policing 

Institute, deputy assistant director for the Office of 

State, Local, Rural, Tribal and Territorial Training, and 

senior advisor to the assistant director, Mission and 

Readiness Support Directorate. Daenzer a native of 

Flint, Michigan, is a United States Air Force veteran, 

spending more than 20 years on active duty and 

retiring as a special agent with the Air Force Office 

of Special Investigations. 
16 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

 Ariana Roddini

 Deputy Assistant Director, Regional and 

 International Training Directorate, Federal 

 Law Enforcement Training Centers-Glynco

“To protect and serve” is more than 

a motto; it is the calling that drives 

generations of law enforcement 

officers and agents to enter the 

profession. Men and women from every community across 

the nation join the ranks of law enforcement to uphold 

laws and safeguard the public from those who break them. 

They sacrifice much to do this work —normal work hours, 

holidays with families, physical safety—and bear the 

responsibility of making split second decisions that have 

lasting impact on individuals, families and communities.

The vast majority of officers and agents uphold these 

responsibilities with the highest degree of integrity and 

professionalism. According to the Department of Justice, 

approximately 698,000 law enforcement officers come 

into contact with about 62 million people every year. The 

libertarian Cato Institute estimates that there are only 5,000 

citizen complaints annually. This means that roughly 99.1% 

of all law enforcement officers across the nation perform 

their duties without being accused of misconduct.i

While this data provides evidence to the overall positive 

performance of law enforcement, the events of 2015 

brought concerns regarding unequal treatment of those 

living in challenged communities to the forefront. As a 

result, our nation is currently reflecting on the role of police 

in society and discussing the concerns of communities who 

believe that they are not well-served by law enforcement. 

As part of this effort, FLETC is currently reflecting on its 

culture, curriculum and instructional practice to ensure 

that law enforcement officers, agents, leaders and trainers 

have the knowledge, skills and mindset to effectively carry 

out their law enforcement missions in a manner that builds 
WWW.FLETC.GOV 17

trust and legitimacy with the communities they serve. I am 

excited to have been offered the opportunity to lead this 

initiative.

The Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st 

Century Policing recommends renewed focus on 

community policing strategies as a means for strengthening 

and regaining trust between law enforcement and the 

communities served. Community policing is “a philosophy 

that promotes organizational strategies that support 

the systematic use of partnership and problem-solving 

techniques to proactively address...public safety issues 

such as crime, social disorder and fear of crime.”ii Effective 

community policing rebuilds trust and relationships and 

results in safer and more efficient policing for the officers 

and agents involved. 

While community policing is widely prescribed, its 

implementation is not one-size-fits all. In this compilation, 

a panel of professionals shares their experiences at the 

forefront of advancing community policing. Through 

the diversity of their experiences, successes and lessons 

learned, we hope to advance others who are adopting this 

philosophy—both personally and organizationally. On 

behalf of FLETC, we thank the contributors for sharing 

their experiences as well as all those involved in efforts to 

protect and serve their communities and the nation.

 

 Gregory G. Mullen

Chief of Police, City of Charleston 

Police Department

The Charleston (South Carolina) 

Police Department has worked 

hard over the past nine years to 

develop a culture that embraces 

the elements of Community Oriented 

Policing (COP). The first, and most important principle, 

was to understand that COP is not a program or a unit. It 

was important to institutionalize the concepts and beliefs 

into our agency’s value system. We needed to make this 

an organizational philosophy so that everyone, sworn 

and civilian, would embrace these elements in their daily 

contact with citizens and colleagues.

In many cases, organizations have adopted the concepts 

of COP in exchange for funding opportunities or due to 

pressure from a variety of constituent groups. No matter 

the challenge, the default answer was to implement more 

community policing. The nature of COP however, is neither 

simple nor prescriptive. COP is a series of multidisciplinary 

and lengthy processes that are different for every law 

enforcement agency and community. 

In the case of the City of Charleston Police, we recognized 

that a holistic approach to COP would be the most effective 

way to encourage transformation, and therefore safety, 

for our citizens. Our process of discovery included a 

protracted strategic planning process. The planning process 

demonstrated opportunities to rationalize work-flow and 

revealed areas to draw upon existing talents and resources.

We realized that to reach our full potential and gain 

officer buy-in, we needed to stop referencing specific 

units or programs as community policing activities, and 

instead view it through a different lens. We analyzed the 

level of procedural justice involved in our organizational 

processes, both for offenders and officers, and took a 

Capitol Police Officer shares her experience with 

students during their field trip.
18 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

universal approach. The mapping and 

resources outlined through strategic 

planning, and the procedural justice 

lens we adopted, served as our tools 

for change—it became the way we 

did business because it was right and 

effective.

The first step in our journey was to 

clearly define for all our employees 

the End State that we wish to achieve 

—creating a safe community by 

developing strong relationships built 

on trust and legitimacy. By showing 

employees that we recognized their 

responsibilities and obligations as 

an officer, we began to implement 

specific actions and strategies to reach 

this End State. 

To begin the process, it was critical 

that we identify and invest in the right 

individuals to join our organization. 

We incubated a cadre of officers who 

believed in our chosen philosophy 

and could sustain it into the future, 

and began developing and promoting 

officers into leadership positions who 

understood and championed our 

message. In 2009, we re-engineered 

our recruiting, hiring, and promotional 

processes to seek out those individuals 

who have consistently demonstrated 

our Department’s values—Honor, 

Excellence, Accountability, Respect, 

and Teamwork. Currently, we also 

evaluate candidates based on their 

demonstrated commitment to 

service, community, and ethical 

decision-making. For those seeking 

leadership positions, we examine 

their commitment to our mission 

and goals that highlight community 

interaction, relationship building, and 

looking beyond the traditional role of 

law enforcement. We develop, educate, 

and promote those individuals who 

demonstrate, through their actions, an 

understanding of procedural justice 

principles. They must be willing to 

listen to solve problems; treat all 

people, even in their worst time, with 

dignity and respect; be a neutral fact 

finder and take the time with citizens 

to explain why we do things. These are 

all attributes that create opportunities 

to solve problems, build trust and gain 

cooperation and collaboration.

We have woven a thread through all of 

our training that focuses on the “why” 

of public safety and its procedures. 

Being a police officer is not merely an 

employment opportunity or a title; it 

is a responsibility to provide a service 

to our community that no one else 

is trusted to provide. We are granted 

extreme authority, yet it is our duty 

to utilize that authority in a manner 

that is respectful, measured, and trustbuilding. This thread encompasses the 

fundamental message for our recruits, 

in-service officers, supervisors, and 

especially our commanders, who 

recognize the importance of leading 

from the front and setting the 

example of problem-solving, building 

partnerships, and demonstrating that 

we are entrusted as Guardians of our 

community.

From an operational perspective, we 

have instituted a number of structural 

modifications that support our 

philosophy. Each of our teams, which 

are geographical patrol areas, are subdivided into small beats or sectors where 

officers are assigned for designated 

time periods. This consistent staffing in 

the same geographical area, called Beat 

Integrity, allows the officers to build 

relationships, identify problems, and 

find solutions that increase cooperation 

and demonstrate investment in the 

community. To support these concepts, 

we also have implemented a number 

of strategies that make relationship 

building an ongoing process. 

These strategies include: Citizen 

Advisory Groups (CAG) that meet 

with senior commanders monthly, 

including the Chief of Police; officers 

attending monthly neighborhood 

meetings to learn about issues 

and concerns while they are small 

and manageable; conducting walk 

and talks in neighborhoods and 

business communities to become 

personally invested in their area of 

responsibility; completing return 

visits with victims within 24-hours 

of a violent crime occurrence to offer 

support and encouragement; sending 

officers into neighborhoods where 

critical incidents or police activities 

(SWAT operations or narcotics search 

warrants) have occurred to explain 

to neighbors what happened to calm 

fears and prevent rumors; conducting 

quarterly community audits to gauge 

citizen satisfaction with our service; 

and leading community activities that 

allow officers to become humanized to 

those they work with on a daily basis.

Some of the more successful activities 

that we have implemented to help 

humanize our officers and create real 

connections within the community 

are the three components of our 

Charleston Trinity Program - Camp 

Hope, Friday Night Lights, and the 

Turning Leaf Project. Each of these 

initiatives targets a segment of our 

community to enhance interaction 

and engagement. Camp Hope focuses 

on children who may not have 

opportunities to know officers outside 

of crisis and conflict. This six-week 

summer program touches over 300 

children each summer and is operated 

by police officers. Friday Night Lights 

bring families to parks across the city 

each week during the summer break 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD
WWW.FLETC.GOV 19

for a night of fun, games, and positive interaction. 

Again, police officers from the various teams join 

these families and build common bonds. Finally, 

Turning Leaf is a reentry process that targets high 

risk offenders who are the parents of children 

in our challenged neighborhoods. Through 

pre- and post-release training, education and 

employment transition support, we have been 

successful in reducing the recidivism rates 

for these repeat offenders. By helping these 

individuals, we are working to repair the family 

unit in order to reduce community crimes and 

change the future for their children.

Furthermore, in our most challenged 

neighborhoods we have developed Community 

Action Teams (CAT) to provide an even higher 

level of interaction from a perspective of 

enforcement and community support. CAT 

officers conduct extensive community outreach 

efforts such as sponsoring athletic events and 

conducting crime prevention seminars. They also 

work hard with other city agencies, community 

leaders, activists and faith-based partners to 

create positive programming and solve problems 

within these active crime areas. While they are 

engaged in prevention and relational activities, 

they are also working with their Beat partners and 

crime analysts to identify and address potential 

offenders who wish to harm the community. 

This crime suppression focus is monitored for 

all personnel through an accountability system 

that looks at crimes committed and strategies 

implemented to address them on a weekly basis.

To support our operational efforts, we have 

developed a very robust crime analysis 

capability that assists officers’ and detectives’ 

efforts to identify criminals and solve crimes 

quickly. During our transformation, we created 

a six-member Crime Analysis Unit. This group 

of highly trained and energetic staff members 

provides both tactical and strategic intelligence 

to support field operations. They provide realtime data that is critical to solving current 

crimes, as well as strategic information that 

helps officers identify trends and patterns 

associated with problem areas, locations and 

Chief Mullen participates in the City 

of Charleston, South Carolina, Police 

Department’s Friday Night Lights, a 

community policing initiative.

VOICES FROM THE FIELD
FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

people. To further support this effort and to make the 

information even more available to our field officers, we 

have implemented a Criminal Information Operation 

Center that has consolidated all information feeds. The 

Center pushes police records, video, and open source 

reports into one location. We have also embraced cloud 

technology that allows us to effectively share large 

volumes of information with our partners at the local, 

state, and federal levels. We believe that information 

sharing and knowledge is at the heart of our communitybased philosophy and gives our officers the tools they 

need to develop the best solutions to issues and concerns 

they and our community partners face. 

Implementing community policing strategies and 

institutionalizing it as an organizational philosophy was 

not an easy task. It still requires constant reinforcement, 

leadership by example and celebration of small 

successes. By using these basic principles, we were 

able to demonstrate how working closely with our 

community to solve problems and build relationships 

provides tremendous dividends. We have seen crime drop 

substantially, citizen cooperation and support increase, 

and our partners stand with us during the most difficult 

situations. As an organization, we have experienced 

first-hand the benefit of focusing on the small things, 

recognizing that every crime impacts a person and isn’t 

just a number, and the importance of developing solid 

relationships over time so they are present and available 

when community crisis occurs.

When implementing COP, complacency is not an option. 

We must work daily to reinforce the importance of 

listening, understanding the real concerns of our partners, 

and accepting our responsibility for maintaining the trust 

and confidence that is associated with our legal authority. 

During a time of unprecedented scrutiny, implementing 

community policing principles is of paramount 

importance. While we cannot always guarantee that crisis 

will not occur, we can do everything possible to prepare 

our officers and the community to respond in a calm 

and respectful manner. As leaders and guardians of our 

community, failure is not an option. As a police chief, I 

can attest to the positive outcomes that a city can achieve 

through community-oriented policing practices. I believe 

this philosophy will give us the best opportunity to make 

Charleston, and America, safe, secure, and resilient.

Dr. Alonford J. Robinson, Jr.

Strategic and Senior Advisor to 

Leaders in Public and Private Sector

Last year I had the opportunity 

to facilitate a series of 

conversations with officers 

from the New York Police 

Department. The officers were all 

working in a particularly “tough” precinct in one of the 

largest boroughs in the city. My task was simply to engage 

them in an honest, candid discussion about a variety of 

issues related to community policing and community 

engagement. As you might imagine, the conversation took 

many turns—some surprising, others not. 

What strikes me today, as I reflect on those conversations, 

is the deep sense of alienation that many of the officers 

in that room feel. They feel disconnected from the 

communities they serve, and they aren’t sure how to 

repair what are strained and often broken relationships. 

As law enforcement professionals and community 

activists around the country work to reconstitute the 

basis of what we used to know as community policing, 

I’d like to share some observations from the field. 

The “field” in which I work cuts across a number of areas 

and includes law enforcement professionals, philanthropic 

foundations, community-based organizations, and 

Federal, State, and Local government agencies. I am 

essentially a strategist and advisor to senior leaders in the 

public and private sectors. The clients I serve are all working 

to design and to implement innovative public-private 

partnerships that address important issues like public 

safety (e.g., crime), public health, education, community 

development, and more. I am also an adjunct professor 

of leadership and strategy for the George Washington 

University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership and 

the University of Maryland School of Business. 

So, my observations come from more than a decade 

of work with leaders who can’t succeed in their jobs 

without the active support and cooperation of others. 

From law enforcement to public health, there are lessons 

we can learn from the challenges that come with being 

held responsible for things you can’t deliver without the 

participation of others. I call these types of situations 

collective action challenges. 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

20
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

After years of working with a wide array of leaders in the 

public and private sectors, I have come to see collective 

action challenges everywhere I look. When I consider the 

work I’ve done with law enforcement professionals and 

community-based organizations, I see many of the problems 

you face as traditional collective action challenges. Perhaps, 

by conceptualizing community policing as a collective 

action challenge, we can begin to anticipate the landmines 

and forge safe passage for those who wish to see a different 

future emerge. 

Community policing is a collective action challenge because, 

to succeed, it requires the active support and participation 

of so many different 

groups and stakeholders. 

It won’t succeed on its 

own, without careful 

thought and leadership 

from the members of 

the community itself. It’s 

something that requires 

an ability to engage and to 

mobilize different and often 

competing constituencies 

around the pursuit of 

a shared destination. 

When the destination is 

not clear or is contested, 

people won’t move. When 

relationships are frayed or broken, people won’t move. 

When leaders squabble over petty issues and begin to fight 

over superficial slights, people won’t move. I have observed 

all of this and I’d like to offer some lessons learned for those 

who understand the challenge, yet remain undeterred. 

Community policing, when approached holistically, ought to be a shared 

responsibility. It would be so much easier if we could all agree 

to share the costs of keeping our communities safe, healthy, 

and prosperous. Something, however, has gone wrong. 

Instead of engagement, we have retrenchment. People 

on all sides have retreated to emotional bunkers where 

they find comfort in the perceptions and narratives that 

reinforce their view of the world. I encourage you to take 

the first risk and to emerge from your emotional bunker 

and to invite others to join you. You can do this by simply 

choosing to re-engage with those in the community with 

whom you’ve had difficult moments. Too often, collective 

efforts like community policing fail simply because people 

refuse to emerge from their bunkers. 

Learn to assess the quality and character of your relationships. 

Relationships (and partnerships) progress through a series of phases, 

each with its own character. In fact, there are seven phases that 

I have witnessed: confusion, contention, conversation, 

connection, cooperation, collaboration, and creation. I 

think of these as collective moments. At any given moment 

in time, the relationships you have with members of your 

community probably rest in at least one of these phases. 

One of the most important things you can do to establish 

and maintain effective community policing initiatives is 

to equip everyone on your 

team with the knowledge 

of how to assess where 

their relationships are 

along this continuum. That 

takes work. 

It means training people 

how to tell the difference 

between a state of 

confusion and a period 

of contention. Are we 

unable to get along with 

that person or that group 

because they are confused 

about what we are doing or 

why we’re doing what we do? Or, do they understand but 

disagree? Assuming someone dislikes you “just because of 

who you are” is not a real answer to these questions. Equip 

yourself with the knowledge and the tools to proactively 

manage relationships and work steadily to push as many 

of them toward conversation, connection, cooperation, 

and collaboration. Community policing is a by-product of 

relationship building and community empowerment. 

Relationships will weaken and will die from neglect. Figure out 

what you can do every day to deepen key relationships. It 

is not enough to simply proclaim publicly that you value 

strong community relationships. Like all relationships, 

they require constant and conscious care. As a law 

enforcement professional, you must accept the reality 

that every interaction you have with someone from the 

community matters—from casual conversations with 

residents on a street corner to routine traffic stops with 

Community policing is a collective 

action challenge because, to succeed, 

it requires the active support and 

participation of so many different 

groups and stakeholders.”

21
22 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

anxious drivers. Your relationships are the sum total of 

the interactions you have with others in the community. 

Strong and healthy relationships stem from positive 

and engaging social interactions. Equally true, weak and 

destructive relationships are the result of negative and toxic 

interactions. Fair or not, the members of the community 

you serve often hold you responsible for the interactions 

they’ve had with other law enforcement professionals. 

You can do your part by creating as many positive social 

interactions as you can, with as many people as you can. 

Think ahead. This requires what I have come to describe as 

social foresight. In the truest sense of the word, foresight 

is defined as your ability to anticipate the cascading impact 

of an action or a decision. You can cultivate foresight by 

asking yourself a number of questions. How will this 

decision affect the relationships I (or other officers) have 

with members of the community I serve? How will the 

action I take today influence the tone and tenor of my 

relationships in the future? Keep in mind that foresight 

does not suggest that you will be able to predict the future. 

But it does help you influence the future. 

If they help you create it, they will be less likely to neglect it. As 

you envision the future, it is critical that you work with 

your community partners to co-create a shared vision of 

that future. Co-creating a shared vision requires that you 

construct a process that is inclusive. This means listening 

in ways that your partners in the community feel heard. 

So often, members of the community attribute poor 

relationships with law enforcement professionals to a 

perception that they’ve been misunderstood. Right or 

wrong, they don’t feel heard and that contributes to the 

sentiment that community voices don’t matter. 

My final observation is that in times of stress we return to our habits. 

If your idea of community policing amounts to little 

more than short-term, superficial campaigns designed

to quell complaints from vocal community activists, you 

will ultimately be exposed. Solicit feedback from your 

community partners about your performance, and do it 

regularly. Make regular course-corrections to fix errors and 

to repair damaged relationships. Be open and transparent 

before you’re asked to do so. Make the commitment to 

develop solid habits. The payoff may come when you least 

expect it and most need it.

Captain Robert Lachance

Commander, United States Park Police

 Training Academy

Law enforcement organizations 

do not operate in a vacuum. Our 

actions that address criminal 

activity have a profound impact 

on the communities we serve. 

Therefore, we and the community are 

bound together with actions creating reactions, and so 

on. With this in mind, it is essential that we connect and 

communicate with the communities we serve to increase 

the effectiveness of law enforcement actions and build 

trust and legitimacy. 

We, the family of law enforcement across the nation, are in 

a time of change. A major paradigm shift is sweeping the 

way we interact with the public and provide services within 

our communities. The issue of police brutality coupled 

with a major division between police and the communities 

they serve has sparked nationwide discussions on how the 

police interact in their communities. As a result, President 

Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a Task Force 

on 21st Century Policing. The report brings to light issues 

that have marred the image of the police and created distrust 

with the communities we are sworn to protect. President 

Obama stated, “When any part of the American family 

does not feel like it is being treated fairly, that’s a problem 

for all of us...”.iii The first pillar in this report is “Building 

Trust & Legitimacy” through treating others with respect, 

demonstrating a neutral and transparent decision making 

process and ensuring we convey trustworthy motives. 

The United States Park Police (USPP) places a high priority 

on community policing as outlined in our Mission, 

Vision, and Value Statement, “We meet community needs 

with sensitivity, professionalism, and we hold ourselves 

As you envision the future, it is 

critical that you work with your 

community partners to co-create a 

shared vision of that future.”

VOICES FROM THE FIELD
accountable to each other and to the citizens we serve.” To 

make this value statement a living, breathing proclamation, 

we employ various outreach efforts to build trust and 

legitimacy as described in the Task Force Report. As the 

media and the public pay greater attention to community 

policing, law enforcement organizations, including the 

USPP, have looked at how we can continue to improve our 

outreach.

 The USPP mission is unique in federal law enforcement. 

As an urban police force within the National Park Service, 

we provide law enforcement services to three distinct 

areas. In the Washington, DC-Metropolitan area we 

patrol and manage large-scale events on the National 

Mall featuring American icons such as the Washington 

Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The USPP patrols 

five major parkways that serve as key routes into and 

out of the city. In addition, spread throughout DC and 

the surrounding counties are numerous parks nestled 

within neighborhoods and business districts that provide 

enjoyment for the communities surrounding them. 

The New York Field Office is responsible for the law 

enforcement functions in the Jamaica Bay and Staten 

Island Units of the Gateway National Recreation Area 

(GNRA), as well as at the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island 

National Historic Site. Headquartered on Fort Wadsworth 

in Staten Island, New York, the USPP has served at GNRA 

since its inception in 1974. 

In the San Francisco Field Office (SFFO) we patrol the 

Presidio—a community in itself along with beaches and 

parks on which the community depends for improved 

quality of life. SFFO officers and investigators provide law 

enforcement and public safety services and manage many 

large special events at highly visited sites, including the 

San Francisco Maritime Museum, Aquatic Park, Ocean 

Beach, Crissy Field, Muir Woods, and Marin Headlands 

areas. These areas include two hotels, two hostels, six 

schools, 14 restaurants and cafes, 1,050 residential rental 

units, and more than 120 businesses, including the Lucas 

Digital Arts complex and the Walt Disney Museum.

With such varied jurisdictional areas, USPP officers 

engage with a wide spectrum of American communities. 

The trust and legitimacy with the communities we 

serve is built upon the outreach efforts we proactively 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

Park Police Officers often engage 

with community members. 

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24 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

conduct—whether neighbors out enjoying Riis Park in 

New York City, attendees at a birthday party in the Presidio, 

demonstrators exercising their first amendment rights on 

the National Mall or homeless residents who need our 

compassion. The USPP is engaged in a variety of outreach 

efforts. 

The USPP Explorers Program was developed to engage 

and educate young men and women ages 14-21 in the 

communities we serve. The Explorers Program develops 

their interest in law enforcement, reinforces citizenship 

through active community involvement and provides 

USPP mentorship that hones leadership skills, stimulates 

personal growth, and instills 

responsibility. The USPP 

Citizen’s Academy is another 

community outreach effort 

that pays dividends by opening 

the lines of communication, 

resulting in stronger bonds 

and cooperative relationships 

with the communities we 

serve. The Academy is open to 

citizens 18 years and older and 

gives them an open forum of 

communication to learn about 

USPP as an organization, our 

policies and our procedures. 

The USPP is also a proud 

participant in the National Night 

Out annual events that are held 

nationwide to raise awareness 

of police organizations and 

encourage positive community 

interaction. Last year we cohosted, in conjunction with the National Park Service, a Bike 

and Trail Safety event at River Terrace Park in Washington, 

DC. The event included a bike tour with USPP officers, 

bike safety checks and family friendly events to engage the 

community with their local police officers. In addition, 

USPP representatives attend National Night Out Events 

nationwide in and around our primary jurisdictions. 

With a strong commitment to our wounded veterans, the 

USPP hosts frequent therapeutic riding programs for them 

in conjunction with the Wounded Warrior Project. Veterans 

engage with USPP Horse Mounted Officers to ride horses 

in Rock Creek Park, creating a strong community bond 

between the USPP and our veterans. This partnership with 

the Wounded Warrior Program at Walter Reed Hospital and 

the Rock Creek Public Stables is a fundamental element of 

community policing as it conjoins service and volunteerism 

while building trust.

USPP Chief Robert D. MacLean and his management 

team are committed to community policing. While there 

is an expectation that police station commanders attend 

community meetings in the areas they patrol, Chief 

MacLean has rejuvenated this effort 

with a call for action. The initiative 

is guided by the President’s Task 

Force on 21st Century Policing 

and will strengthen the trust and 

legitimacy of our organization 

and officers from the perspective 

of the community. In addition to 

his challenge to the command 

staff, Chief MacLean has promoted 

leadership throughout all levels in 

his “Back to Basics” memorandum 

to the Force. The Chief stresses 

operational readiness-be prepared, 

vigilant, and visible. We want our 

community to see, recognize, and 

trust our USPP officers. 

While current events have 

demonstrated that law enforcement 

must improve community policing 

efforts, the USPP, as well as 

many other police organizations 

throughout the country, have been involved in the effort 

for many years. The USPP continues to self-reflect and 

see our organization from the viewpoint of community 

members. We want to know what we have been doing 

well all along and where our efforts have fallen short. 

Community feedback allows us to progress in our efforts 

and stimulates change. Law enforcement organizations 

do not operate in a vacuum. As Sir Robert Peel detailed in 

The Peelian Principles, “The police are the public and the 

public are the police.” 

U.S. Capitol Police Officer 

Ron Riley, who is fluent 

in Chinese, helps Chinese 

tourists navigate the 

National Capital Region.
WWW.FLETC.GOV 25

 Lieutenant Glenn P. Brogan

United States Capitol Police

The mission of the United States 

Capitol Police (USCP) is to protect 

the Congress—its Members, 

employees, visitors, and facilities—

from crime, disruption, and 

terrorism. Further, the USCP protects 

and secures Congress so that it can 

fulfill its constitutional responsibilities in a safe and open 

environment. Since 1828 the sworn and civilian members 

of USCP have continued to adapt and evolve to fulfill this 

mission. The USCP has a responsibility to serve a diverse 

public and has discovered creative and effective ways of 

communicating with them and serving them. 

Communicating with a diversity of stakeholders is aided by 

the 82 members of the department who speak 18 different 

languages. Interaction with the public is also aided by the 

variety of patrol methods in use, such as mountain bikes, 

motor units and foot patrols. The USCP also has numerous 

community outreach programs which have grown out of 

the department’s community policing evolution. Some of 

these programs involve holding a yearly holiday party that 

benefits a local elementary school, hosting field trips for Cub 

Scouts who, upon completion of their “training day,” are 

awarded with Junior Officer Certificates, conducting a child 

safety seat inspection event and providing escorts to Honor 

Flight World War II veterans during trips to the Capitol. A 

favorite community event is a flag football game that pits 

Members of Congress (the Mean Machine) versus the USCP 

(The Guards). This bi-annual game is called “The Longest 

Yard” and proceeds raised are for the USCP Memorial Fund. 

The most recent community outreach program that is based 

on the USCP’s principal goal of fulfilling their mission is 

their “Responding to an Active Shooter: Run, Hide or Fight 

Back” program. The need for this initiative was driven by 

increased national and world events, including the 2011 

shooting of a Congresswoman and 19 others during a public 

meeting near Tucson, Arizona. Attendees of this awareness 

program, who include congressional staff and Members of 

Congress, are taught that although their chances of being 

involved in an active shooter situation are statistically 

unlikely, they should be prepared to respond. 

The classes, which are taught by officers who are a part of 

the USCP’s Active Shooter Training Program, have afforded 

officers the opportunity to spend time with the public that 

they serve, while building trust within the congressional 

community. As a result, the department has seen a decreased 

level of fear about the subject, as those receiving the training 

now have the knowledge of what to expect and what is 

expected of them in an active shooter situation. Earning

Retired U.S. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine 

helps a student from Savoy Elementary School 

at their holiday party. USCP officers have 

partnered with the school for 15 years to help 

with the annual holiday party and also donate 

books, toys and clothes to fill bags for children 

in grades kingergarten through 3rd.

VOICES FROM THE FIELD
26 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

the trust of the Capitol Hill community and making them 

stakeholders in their own security and safety enables the 

USCP to better understand and address the needs of their 

community, and in turn, it allows the USCP to be even 

more successful in accomplishing their critical mission of 

protecting the entire Legislative Branch. 

Robert E. Ray

Special Agent

Director, Inspector General Criminal 

Investigator Academy

Sir Robert Peel is widely recognized 

as the father of modern policing. 

Well before American policing 

became a profession, Peel developed the 

Peelian Principles. These early 19th century principles are 

the foundation for policing in a democratic society, and 

they are the essence of American community-oriented 

policing. Further, Peel’s nine principles embodied his 

belief that “the police are the public and the public are the 

police.” Though the Inspector General community does not 

employ uniformed police officers, the 72 federal Offices of 

Inspectors General (OIG) employ roughly 4,000 criminal 

investigators who rely heavily upon Peelian Principles and 

community-oriented policing principles to prevent and 

detect fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs and 

operations.

Peelian Principle 7 states in part, “the police should at all times 

maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to 

the historic tradition that the police are the public and the 

public are the police.” This is no truer than in the Inspector 

General community. The nearly 15,000 professionals who 

comprise the Inspector General community are federal 

employees who work within the departments and agencies 

they oversee—a government community consisting of 

more than two million individuals. Regrettably, this work 

often includes criminal investigations of corrupt federal 

employees who administer government programs and 

private citizens who commit fraud in such programs. 

Further, these individuals often commit other crimes and 

become targets of state and local police agencies.

Fraud Awareness Briefings. Most OIGs regularly conduct fraud 

awareness briefings in their component agencies. The 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ OIG has 

one of the most robust fraud awareness programs. This 

includes briefings to agency senior managers, program 

managers and administrators, contracting officers, grant 

administrators, and compliance officials. In addition to 

informing Department employees on fraud indicators, OIG 

investigators develop relationships with key managers and 

program administrators that often result in leads involving 

criminal violations in agency operations or programs. 

Further, OIG investigators learn more about how programs 

are administered and the effectiveness of agency internal 

controls.

Hotline Operations. The OIGs manage telephone and email 

“hotlines” that employees and private citizens can use to 

report fraud, waste, and abuse. Hotlines are a community 

service and enable OIGs to prevent and disrupt fraud and 

other criminal conduct. Additionally, hotline calls often 

help OIGs identify problem agency employees, weak 

internal controls, and other vulnerabilities in program 

administration. Even if hotline complaints do not result in 

criminal convictions or administrative actions, agencies can 

use the information to strengthen programs and prevent 

the loss of millions in taxpayer dollars. The U.S. Department 

of Defense’s OIG manages one of the most active hotline 

operations, which consistently produces criminal cases, 

results in saving millions of taxpayer dollars, and saves 

American warfighter lives.

Police Roll-Call Briefings. Since some federal programs involve 

“street-level” crime, OIG criminal investigators often 

work directly with police agencies to prevent and identify 

fraud in the community. For example, in the 1990s, the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s OIG conducted rollcall briefings at Nashville Metropolitan Police stations 

and substations to educate patrol officers on food stamp 

trafficking. The briefings resulted in numerous referrals and 

leads involving food stamp trafficking by local businesses. 

Moreover, the briefings resulted in a better informed local 

law enforcement community that could detect trafficking 

activity and notify the local OIG office. This proactive effort 

ultimately resulted in dozens of federal and state criminal 

prosecutions and administrative actions against businesses 

engaged in food stamp trafficking.

In keeping with Peel’s ninth principle, which states, “The 

test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, 

not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with 

them,” the 72 OIGs strive to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

27

by employing proactive, community-oriented policing 

principles. This community-oriented partnership approach 

is built upon the belief that we can solve community 

problems best when working with our fellow community 

leaders and members. Furthermore, adopting and applying 

community-oriented policing principles in the Inspector 

General community is simply good government – wisely 

using limited resources and community relationships to 

prevent costly frauds, abuses and waste. Here, the Inspectors 

General, who are charged with ensuring integrity, economy 

and effectiveness in government operations, are leading by 

example. 

Steve Juneau

Academy Director

United States Indian Police Academy

The community policing 

components of partnership and 

problem solving are quickly 

recognized by Native officers because 

they are raised in the community as a 

“stakeholder” with the expectation of working 

together to find solutions-which they know also impacts 

them both professionally and personally. 

From the beginning, policing in Indian Country has been 

inherently “community-oriented” and personal by nature. 

Native officers have grown up in the Tribal community; 

understand the relational nuances, values, and culture; and 

serve a population that principally comprises relatives, 

friends, and generally known citizens. Because of the 

familiarity, many “proactive” approaches are informal and 

entail meaningful responses. For example, a vandalism 

incident may involve collaboration with a community 

elder, spiritual leader, parents, and the school to educate 

the youth in preserving community quality, cultural and 

historical significance, and expectation of the youth as the 

Tribes future. 

The national inception of the community policing 

philosophy has aided to formally define the traditionally 

practiced approaches by Indian Country law enforcement 

departments. The United States Indian Police Academy trains 

officers from 201 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or Tribal 

(Indian Country) police departments. Since the mid-1990’s, 

the Academy has formally implemented community policing 

curriculum in basic and advanced training programs. New 

officers quickly recognize the philosophy and components 

because of their community and traditional background. 

The layering of the community policing components over 

the already established awareness of the community values 

helps to facilitate a formal understanding of the community 

policing process and strategies. 

The overall impact for Indian Country police departments 

and communities has been the strengthening of training 

and strategy to address local contemporary drug and crime 

issues. One example involving multiple police departments 

was a BIA led crime reduction initiative. Officers already 

armed with the knowledge of community policing by the 

Academy were provided specific crime reduction strategies 

and resources. The departments utilized their established 

partnerships, collaboration, and problem solving, which 

resulted in a successful significant decrease of violent crimes 

at all locations. 

i

Ari Melber and Safia Samee Ali, After a Dangerous Year, Officers’ Family and 

Colleagues Reflect (NBC News, January 16, 2016) http://www.nbcnews.com/

news/us-news/after-dangerous-year-officers-family-colleagues-reflect-n497591

ii1. President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 2015. Final Report of 

the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Washington, DC: Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services.

iiiIbid., p.1.

ivIbid., p 7.

v

Sir Robert Peel’s Principles of Law Enforcement, 1829. Found at https://www.

durham .police.uk/About-Us/Documents/Peels_Principles_Of_Law_Enforcement.pdf

MARY ANNE LESIAK is a program analyst 

in the Regional and International Training 

Directorate. Prior to joining FLETC in 2014, 

Mary Anne served in several roles at Apple Tree 

Institute for Education Innovation, including Chief 

of Staff, Chief of Strategic Initiatives and Director 

of Education. At Apple Tree Institute, a non-profit 

located in Washington, DC, she led the development, 

implementation and dissemination of researchbased curricula, teacher training and evaluation 

tools designed to improve teaching and learning in under-resourced schools. 

Mary Anne has also served as an Educational Website Coordinator at the US 

Mint, a Program Analyst at the US Department of Education, and a teacher 

in the District of Columbia Public Schools. She earned a Master in Teaching 

from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics 

from the University of Maryland, College Park.
FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

By Preston Farley

History has yet to reveal which police agency began using 

social media first, or in what capacity. Undoubtedly, 

whichever one it was could not have known how that first 

small step would grow by leaps and bounds into what, for 

many agencies today, is an indispensable tool used across 

a wide range of police work. 

First of all, what do we mean by “social media?” 

According to Oxford Dictionaries, social media is defined 

as websites and applications that enable users to create 

and share content or to participate in social networking. 

In other words, it provides ways in which people can 

use computers or smartphones to interact with others. 

Currently, the most popular social media site on the planet 

is Facebook with an estimated 900,000,000 unique 
WWW.FLETC.GOV 29

monthly viewers. The remaining top 10 most popular 

social media sites in descending order of viewers are 

Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, Instagram, 

VK, Flickr, and Vine at number 10 with 42 million 

unique monthly visitors.1 Each of these sites has a unique 

interface and different way to interact with others. Some 

are text-based, some are picture-based, and others are 

video-centric. 

Social media use by law enforcement falls into three broad 

categories: investigative, administrative, or public liaison. 

The earliest use of social media by law enforcement 

was probably investigative as there always seems to be a 

number of scams that utilize social media. In one case, 

a 33-year-old suspect was using the social media site 

Omegle, which allows chat, audio, and video between 

two random users. While users are supposed to be 13 

years of age or older, age verification is easily bypassed. 

The suspect would engage in conversations with girls as 

young as eight by posing as an eight-year-old himself. He 

would persuade them to partially remove their clothing 

on camera while he was recording them. A short time 

later, he would reconnect with the victim on the service 

and play back the video of them disrobing and extort 

more extreme acts or threaten to show the video to their 

parents and peers. When caught, the suspect had allegedly 

amassed hundreds of such extortion videos.2

Administratively, some departments report using social 

media to communicate with their staff about new or 
30 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

revised work rules from human resources. One chief of 

police in Texas publicly tweets the names of all staff who 

are fired along with the reasons.3 Another administrative 

use of social media is to investigate staff misconduct. 

An alleged incident occurred with a deputy at a party 

wearing an “offensive” Halloween costume, which was 

subsequently publicly posted on Facebook. Management 

was able to view the Facebook post, confirm that the 

costume in question was in violation of organizational 

policy regarding public behavior, and take appropriate 

action. Many hiring agencies are now looking at 

prospective employees’ social media footprints as part of 

the hiring process. As more and more people begin to 

post more and more of their activities on social media 

sites, it opens up the possibility of closer inspection of 

their personal lives, whether they are private citizens or 

public safety officers.

It is in the public liaison category that social media 

has really come to the forefront with respect to law 

enforcement. For example, in some instances deft usage 

of social media by police has helped diminish the recent 

spate of public antagonism in some quarters against law 

enforcement. Another example of law enforcement using 

social media to serve the purpose of public liaison was 

during the Boston Marathon bombing4, when hundreds 

of thousands of people were directly impacted by a 

terrorist act and the distribution of accurate information 

was a requirement. The Boston Police Department was 

able to communicate with the public on a large scale 

in real-time via Facebook and Twitter. The department 

was also able to correct misleading information from 

other social media sites and even from traditional media 

outlets. As Facebook and Twitter are designed as two-way 

communication platforms, they can be invaluable.

There are tremendous numbers of resources available to 

a police department that wishes to leverage the power of 

social media. For example, the International Association 

of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has an entire website devoted 

to social media at http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/

News.aspx. This site provides specific examples of how 

police departments around the U.S. are currently using 

specific social media sites to engage with the public. As 

for department policy on social media, the IACP has a 

fantastic article entitled Social Media in Policing: Nine 

Steps for Success,5 which outlines a series of steps an 

agency should at least consider when deciding upon a 

social media presence for its organization, including: 

1. have a written policy regarding the use of social media, 

2. have one point of contact in the organization for social media, and 

3. avoid anonymity within their social media presence.

The entire point of social media is to be more social, 

which means a two-way channel of communication must 

exist. 

Whether to aid in community policing, to serve as an 

investigative tool, or to accomplish administrative tasks 

like employee background checks, social media has 

undoubtedly established itself as an indispensable part of 

many law enforcement agencies. Is it part of yours?

References

1 http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

2

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20151110/NEWS03/151119927/1006 

3

http://www.cnet.com/news/dallas-police-chief-proudly-announces-firings-ontwitter/

4

http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Social-Media-Big-Lessons-from-theBoston-Marathon-Bombing.html

5

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index cfm?fuseaction=display& 

article_id=2018&issue_id=22010

PRESTON FARLEY is a senior instructor for 

the Cyber Division at FLETC, where he has been 

an instructor since 2004. In 2006, he became 

the program coordinator for the Seized Computer 

Evidence Recovery Specialist Training Program, 

which is the introductory digital forensic analysis 

class open to all law enforcement officers/

agents at both the local and federal levels. His 

law enforcement career includes 20 years as a 

United States military member in both the active 

duty U.S. Air Force and the active duty U.S. Army culminating in nearly a 

decade of investigative experience with the United States Army Criminal 

Investigation Division Command as a special agent and cyber agent.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
WWW.FLETC.GOV 

Simon Glik was taken into custody after he exercised his 

right to make an audio-visual recording of police officers 

making an arrest in a city park. Shawn Northrup was seized 

and cited after he holstered a pistol to his side in a state 

that allowed him to openly carry a firearm. Then came the 

big surprise for the officers – lawsuits. The officers could 

not articulate a reasonable restriction on the rights. 

The law is not new. The founding fathers promised 

the people certain rights, later guaranteed in the U.S. 

Constitution. First, whether by coincidence or not, is 

the First Amendment’s right not only to speak out about 

government abuses, but also to gather information about 

how government officials perform their duties. Second, 

is the right to bear arms, or self-defense. Skip the Third 

Amendment (no quartering of soldiers in private homes) 

and the discussion can turn to reasonable restrictions. 

What could restrict the right in this case?

• Driving down Main Street, Jones saw Officer Smith 

conducting a traffic stop and decided to record the event.

Jones parked beside the road, but before he could start 

recording, Smith ordered him to move his car. Jones 

shouted back, “No! I’m exercising my First Amendment 

right to record public officials performing their duties!”

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable 

searches and seizures, not reasonable ones. Depending on 

a law against parking by the road—Jones could be cited or 

even arrested.

The determinative issue under the Fourth Amendment is 

whether the search or seizure was objectively reasonable – 

and objective reasonableness always depends on the facts. 

Facts supporting the elements of a criminal statute put 

an arrest within the range of reasonable options. What 

if Officer Smith stopped the car based on reasonable 

suspicion that the occupants were armed robbers? An 

order for bystanders to disperse would seem reasonable. 

Or what if Smith lawfully stopped a car and one of the 

occupants got out and started recording? Officers can 

control the driver and passengers in the car. 

31
FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

The Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness 

standard gives police officers power and protection from 

civil liability. It should not take a lot of explaining why 

seizing Glik and Northrup was unreasonable. While 

their conduct was annoying or even unsettling, they did 

nothing wrong. The better question is what keeps officers 

from using their very discretionary Fourth Amendment 

powers as a retaliatory measure against someone for ... say, 

exercising a right? 

Consider this ... 

• Officer Smith was making an arrest in a federal park. 

Jones walked up to within five feet of Smith and voiced 

his opinion that the arrest was an abuse of government 

power: “That’s f---ed up!” Smith ordered Jones to move 

back. “F--- you!” Jones responded in predictable prose, 

“I’m exercising my First Amendment right!” Officer 

Smith arrested Jones not only for disobeying an order, but 

for also dropping the f-bombs. 

An arrest for refusing to leave the immediate scene of an 

arrest was reasonable, but an arrest for shouting expletives 

was not. Where matters of public interest are concerned, 

the First Amendment protects free expression. After all, 

why should police officers be more immune from hateful 

language than presidents? Still, probable cause to arrest 

only depends on whether the facts known to the officer 

at the time support an arrestable offense, not whether the 

officer arrested the suspect for the right one. The facts 

supported an arrest. 

End-of-story ... or is it? 

What if Officer Smith’s underlying motive for arresting 

Jones was for his colorful description of the arrest? 

Obviously, police officers should not use their Fourth 

Amendment arrest powers because they fear, dislike, 

or disagree with the views of others. Still, the Supreme 

Court has never held that there is a right to be free from a 

retaliatory arrest that is otherwise supported by probable 

cause. The lower federal courts of appeals are split on the 

issue. Smith, therefore, could request qualified immunity 

—the officer’s defense to standing trial for a constitutional 

tort. Unless the law clearly establishes where liability 

begins, the case should be dismissed. 

32

EXERCISING YOUR RIGHTS
WWW.FLETC.GOV 33

While the extent of protections under the First and Second 

Amendments have yet to be determined, they at least 

remove free expression and self-defense from the list of 

reasons for searching or seizing someone. Absent some 

other objectively reasonable reason, a Fourth Amendment 

violation will prevail. Moreover, there is not an automatic 

firearm exception. An investigative detention (Terry 

Stop) requires at least reasonable suspicion that a crime is 

afoot; a limited search for weapons (Terry Frisk) requires 

reasonable suspicion that the suspect is presently armed 

and dangerous. 

What is missing ...? 

• An anonymous informant reported that a juvenile at a 

bus stop had a gun. The informant identified the bus stop 

and said that the kid was wearing a plaid shirt. Officer 

Smith responded and saw someone matching the tipster’s 

description. Other than the anonymous tip, however, Smith 

had no reason to believe the kid was violating the law, 

but performed a stop and frisk anyway. The frisk revealed 

a gun. State law prohibited juveniles from carrying a 

concealed firearm and Smith arrested the young man. 

Missing is reasonable suspicion. Reasonable means 

reliable, and the tip was only reliable in its assertion that 

there was a kid, matching the informant’s description, at 

the bus stop. Smith could establish the tipster’s reliability 

by waiting and watching, or he could approach the suspect 

like anyone else (i.e., a consensual encounter), and look 

for facts corroborating the caller’s assertion of illegality. 

Nervousness and a bulge at the suspect’s waistband, 

along with everything else, should be enough to establish 

reasonable suspicion that the kid is committing a crime 

and that he is presently armed and dangerous. 

What is missing here ...?

• Officer Smith stopped Jones for speeding. Dispatch 

reported that he had a license to carry a concealed firearm. 

A National Rifle Association (NRA) sticker was also on 

Jones’s windshield. Smith frisked Jones for weapons.

While a lawful traffic violation is enough to temporarily 

seize everyone in the car, carrying a firearm in accordance 

with state law and a NRA membership falls short of 

reasonable suspicion that Jones is presently armed and 

dangerous. The frisk is not reasonable. 

EXERCISING YOUR RIGHTS

What is the reasonable restriction on the right? The people 

have a First Amendment Right to speak out about what 

they believe are government abuses and to record public 

officials performing their civic duties. If these officers want 

to restrict that right in some way, they should be ready to 

articulate facts supporting a reasonable restriction.
34 FLETC J SPRING-SUMMER 2016 VOLUME 16

Try one more...

• Tennessee law allowed anyone with a permit to carry 

a handgun in a state park. A handgun was defined as a 

firearm with a barrel length less than 12-inches that was 

designed to be fired with one hand. Jones went to a park 

one day. He had an AK-47 pistol with a 30-round clip 

slung across his chest. The barrel met the legal limit for a 

pistol by a half inch. Jones also painted the tip of the barrel 

orange (the law didn’t say he couldn’t), and to catch any 

suspicious officer who might try to stop him, he carried 

a recording device. Officer Smith promptly stopped and 

frisked Jones. After confirming that the gun narrowly met 

the definition of a handgun, Jones was released. 

The Constitution requires reasonable suspicion of a crime, 

not that a crime occurred. Jones did his best to look 

suspicious and cannot cry foul after Officer Smith took 

the bait long enough to confirm or deny the suspicion. 

The barrel length, its orange tip, and the large banana clip 

could lead an officer to reasonably suspect that the weapon 

did not meet the legal definition of a handgun, or that it 

was an illegal weapon disguised as a toy. The same facts 

supported a frisk.

One might claim that police officers have to make tough 

choices when interfacing with citizens exercising their 

rights, especially in a situation where one citizen is 

carrying a firearm and another is chastising the officer for 

not doing more to protect the public. But the truth is 

that officers have no choice, unless there is a reasonable 

restriction on the right. 

Citations

1

See Glik v. Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (1st 2011) and Northrup v. City of Toledo, 

785 F.3d 1128 (6th Cir. 2015).

2

See Gericke v. Begin, 753 F.3d 1, 8 (2014)(The circumstances of some traffic 

stops, particularly when the detained individual is armed, might justify a safety 

measure-for example, a command that bystanders disperse).

3

Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408, 414 (1997)(passenger could be ordered out 

of a car during a traffic stop); see also Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 

(1977)(driver could be ordered out of a car during a traffic stop). 

4

U.S. v. Poocha, 259 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2001).

5

See Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011).

6

Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146 (2004). 

7

The U.S. Supreme Court has never held that there is a right to be free from 

a retaliatory arrest that is otherwise supported by probable cause. Reichle v. 

Howards, 132 S.Ct. 2088 (2012). The federal courts of appeals are split on 

the issue. Dukore v. D.C., 799 F.3d 1137 (D.C. Cir. 2015). 

8

Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000) 

9

Embody v. Ward, 695 F.3d 577 (2012).

TIM MILLER is the subject matter expert for Use 

of Force for the Federal Law Enforcement Centers 

Legal Division. Miller joined the United States 

Marine Corps in 1984 after taking the Illinois 

state bar exam. He served as a prosecutor, defense 

counsel, military judge, and staff judge advocate. 

Tim received a bachelor of science degree and Juris 

Doctorate from Southern Illinois University at 

Carbondale, Illinois. He received his Master of Laws from the Army Judge 

Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

What is the reasonable 

restriction on the right? 

The people have a Second 

Amendment right to bear arms. 

How someone can “bear” 

them varies from one state to 

the next. It is incumbent upon 

the police officer to know 

those restrictions.
WWW.FLETC.GOV 35

FLETC Director Connie Patrick recently hosted the executive 

director of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), Dianne 

Bernhard, at FLETC in Glynco, Georgia. Since 2013, the 

FLETC site in Cheltenham, Maryland, has hosted three 

C.O.P.S. Kids events, which were attended by the children of 

officers killed in the line of duty. Each year, between 140 

and 160 law enforcement officers are killed in the line of 

duty. Their families and co-workers are left to cope with the 

tragic loss. The C.O.P.S. organization provides resources to the 

families of these fallen heroes, to help them rebuild their 

lives and manage the loss of their loved ones. Director Patrick 

is exploring how FLETC can give access to the organization 

at its other training facilites in Charleston, South Carolina; 

Artesia, New Mexico; and Glynco. 

While at FLETC-Cheltenham, the children receive an intensive 

half day of group and individual counseling sessions to help 

them manage and process the loss of their loved one. Many 

return year after year to participate. The other half of the 

day is devoted to bonding and sharing activities sponsored 

by law enforcement. Examples include talking to mounted 

patrol and K-9 units with their animals present, a hands-on 

tour of a helicopter with law enforcement pilots, and the 

“drunk goggles” safety presentation with patrol units, just 

to name a few. 

“In my almost 30 years in law enforcement, little has moved 

me as much as the C.O.P.S. Kids event that I attended for the 

first time in 2015,” said Danny Auer, FLETC-Cheltenham site 

director. “When close to 40 children arrive under police 

escort, most wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the names of 

their lost loved one including their start of duty and end-ofwatch dates, it is impossible not to share Director Patrick’s 

urgency that we can do more.” 

As the Office of Charleston Operations joins the effort by 

hosting a C.O.P.S. event in 2016, Cheltenham will continue to 

host C.O.P.S. Kids every year during Police week,” said Auer.

C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. 

Today, the organization’s membership is over 30,000 

families and includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, 

significant others, and affected co-workers of officers killed 

in the line of duty. C.O.P.S. is governed by a National Board 

of law enforcement survivors, and the national office in 

Camdenton, Missouri, administers of all its programs and 

services. C.O.P.S. has over 50 chapters nationwide that work 

with survivors at the grassroots level. 

The organization’s flagship programs include the National 

Police Survivors’ Conference held each May during National 

Police Week; scholarships; peer-support at the national, state, 

and local levels; “C.O.P.S. Kids” counseling reimbursement 

program; the “C.O.P.S. Kids” Summer Camp; “C.O.P.S. Teens” 

Outward Bound experience for young adults; special retreats 

for spouses, parents, siblings, adult children, in-laws, and coworkers; and a myriad of other assistance programs.

During the course of the organization’s growth and 

development C.O.P.S. has determined that a survivor’s level 

of distress is directly affected by the agency’s type and level 

of response to the tragic loss. As a result, in addition to its 

own day-to-day mission, C.O.P.S. also offers training and 

assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies 

nationwide on how to respond to the tragic loss of a member 

of the law enforcement profession.

Photo Above: Local police join FLETC Cheltenham staff in welcoming 

C.O.P.S. Kids, children of officers killed in the line of duty, to the Center 

for a day of activities and bonding.