JanFeb2017

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J A N 2 0 1 7 F E B

A Challenging Time to be a POLICE EXECUTIVE Stuart Cameron

Police professionals taking over the reigns as the chief officer in a law enforcement agency today will face a number of unique challenges, many of contemporary origin. Chiefs must function in an unprece- dented dynamic and evolving environment which is reflective of rapid changes in society and technology. The widespread and unfettered ac- cess to information fostered by cable news, local news patches, mobile phone applications, the Internet and social media can be both a burden and an opportunity. New police executives will also be confronted with limited resources, tight budgets and often a lack of personnel to deal with threats such as terrorism, targeted attacks on law enforcement and active shooter incidents. The nation and the world are becoming increasingly interconnected. The actions of officers in virtually any po- lice department in America, or even overseas, can have consequences for executives in all departments. Misconduct or perceivedmisconduct can impact law enforcement far beyond the department within which an event occurred.

tinue today. Protesters bemoaned the conduct of police after several high profile incidents in major cities across the United States. This led to protests and violence in many localities. Rising rates for certain categories of vio- lent crime, including homicide, in some areas of the country that have occurred after the onset of this anti-police movement has been attributed by some to a phenomenon called the Ferguson Effect . This theory has been proffered by numerous individuals, includ- ing James Comey , the Director of the FBI. Those that advocate the validity of the Fergu- son Effect believe that it may be due to law enforcement officers who are now reluctant to perform their duties with the same zeal as before out of a fear of being accused of wrong doing. Others believe that the so called Fer- guson Effect may be a result of lowered po- lice legitimacy in minority communities post Ferguson. When communities view law en- forcement with suspicion and distrust police legitimacy falters. This can often result in an unwillingness to recognize police authority and an attendant increase in crime as civil- ians seek justice by taking the law into their own hands or by refusing to cooperate with police investigations. Police legitimacy is de- rived from a perception of procedural justice, which is the feeling that the police are treat- ing the public fairly, allowing all citizens to express their side of an event and are making decisions in an honest and unbiased manner. Everyone desires to be treated fairly, honestly and with respect in all aspects of their lives, including during encounters with police. Another concomitant reaction to the events in Ferguson is the notion that police departments have become over-militarized. Those that subscribe to this belief cite the use

T he pace at which changes to American culture are progressing seems to be in- creasing in synch with technological advances. Gordon Moore postulated a theory regarding the steady doubling of the capability of an integrated circuit called Moore’s Law . Moore’s Law is of- ten cited as a driving force behind the growth in technology, social change and productivity. The rapid adoption and expansion of technologies such as smart phones, social media, unmanned aerial systems and autonomously driven vehicles are all examples of tools that are driving and will continue to drive substantive changes to the way Americans live their lives.

Twenty-first century marvels, such as social media and smart phones, allow individual citi- zens to have an unprecedented ability to widely propagate content or views. Videos of purported police misconduct can rapidly go viral creating social unrest in a given community and even across the nation. Never before has one individ- ual had such ready access to the masses. Never before has the public had such ever present avail- ability of cameras and video equipment to record and even live broadcast events as they occur. So- cial media has no doubt helped to fuel recent anti-law enforcement sentiment in many Ameri- can communities that began around the time of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and which con-

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