Building Trust with Communities of Color June 2014 Voiceover 00:00 This is The Beat, a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation. Katherine McQuay 00:08 This is Katherine McQuay with the COPS Office. With us today is Chief Rick Myers, chief of the department in Newport News, Virginia. Chief Myers, thanks for joining us today. Chief Rick Myers 00:17 Thanks. Always a pleasure to be with you, Katherine. Katherine 00:19 Thank you. I want to talk to you about your perspective coming in as a new chief in a community. You’re not a new chief, but it’s a new community to you, and particularly one with a diverse population. What do you see as both your challenges and your building blocks for success? Rick 00:39 Well, certainly each community is unique. When you come in as an outside chief into a new job, you’re not only having to learn the men and women of your department but you’re learning your community and what the existing relationship is between the department and the community. I use the word “community” in two ways. The Community with a capital C is comprised of a whole network of communities with a little c. Those can be communities of faith; different vocational communities; certainly race, religion, ethnic background. Some of those communities have historically been disconnected with the police. I always strive to identify not only who do we have a great relationship with but who do we need to grow our relationship with. Most often it seems to be in communities of people of color who historically—the African-American community and the police— there have been tensions and not the strongest connection that there should be. That’s almost always a strong focus of mine. Katherine 02:01 What will some of your first steps be? How do you set about repairing relationships and creating new ones? Rick 02:10 A few weeks ago, we took our recruit class in the police academy—they’ve been in training for about two months. On a Saturday, we had them partake in a community neighborhood walk in a mostly African-American, higher crime neighborhood. After the walk, which was with a neighborhood group, we had them knock on doors and introduce themselves. Basically, “Hi, I’m so-and-so. I’m in training to be a police officer here. I’ll be policing your neighborhood in about six months. What are your expectations, and what would you like from us?” Of course, that was met with a lot of shock and awe. Katherine 02:542 Shock and awe. Rick 03:31 At the end of the day, the recruit class said, “That was fun. When can we do that again?” I call that bottom-up kind of change where, before they ever come into the department, they’re learning the importance of having direct, face-to-face communication with people in the community. That is the essence of community policing. We’re working on bottom-up approaches. At the same time, from the top down, I’m meeting [my staff], whether it be at shift changes or in conveying my organizational leadership for the men and women I now lead, [and conveying] how important it is for them to get out of that car and have interaction with folks. Katherine 03:40 That was actually my next question. You talked about the recruit class, but what do you do coming into a department when you’re the one saying, “Okay, we’re going to do a few things differently.” How do you sell that to a department? Rick 03:52 You know what’s really interesting about my current department is in the 1980s, they were one of the pioneering agencies for, back then, community policing and problem-oriented policing [which] were labeled with two different titles. I think now they’ve kind of morphed. We recognize that the overlap is significant, and they’ve morphed. The old-timers are quick to embrace a return to that strong philosophy. It’s some of our newer officers who have hired in a little bit more with the “Cuff ‘em and stuff ‘em” culture that we’re probably going to have to show and demonstrate the value of more a relationship-based focus on policing. I believe all the ingredients are there. We have a bright work force. They understand. They just need to know why are we making a turn, what is the goal, what are we trying to accomplish, and I think they’re going to be great. Katherine 04:59 Who do you see as your biggest or your key stakeholders in the community? Rick 05:04 One thing I’ve been doing is trying to spend some time talking with some of the faith leaders, particularly in the African-American community. They’re huge stakeholders because they have a lot of influence, and they certainly hear much of the concerns expressed by residents in that area. Despite what you might think, some of the most warm welcomes and engagement I have experienced since getting there have come out of that community. Certainly our elected leaders are always stakeholders. They hear from their constituents, and they certainly will hear if we’re not connecting effectively or meeting the expectations. Bottom line, the two biggest stakeholders are our cops and the people we serve. If we can focus on getting those two groups connected, everything else falls in place. Katherine 06:07 They have the right man to do the job, Chief. Thank you so much for your time today. Rick 06:11 Thanks. Voiceover: Beat Exit 06:11 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice, COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems. Voiceover: Disclaimer 06:26 The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.