A Letter from a Police Chief
This is an excerpt from a speech Galveston (Texas) Police Chief Henry Stephen Porretto gave at the “Moving Beyond Ferguson” symposium in Houston, Texas, on Monday, December 15, 2014.
For those who are given the ultimate responsibility, what do we give them in return? For those who have entrusted us with this responsibility, have we done the best possible job of ensuring the men and women who serve them are of the utmost caliber?
I’d like you all to remember yourselves at 22 years old. I want you to recall some of the decisions you made at that age, particularly the ones that weren’t the best choices. Now I want you to imagine that you have a badge and a gun, that you are a police officer.
We take these kids and train them for a maximum of six months in a police academy, some a lot less. Depending on the department, they then receive two to four months with a field training officer; and then they are out on their own. Our officers are not sorting papers, when our officers make mistakes, we make them on people.
We affect lives.
We don’t have the luxury of being by their side every minute of every shift to ensure their reasoning is sound and their actions are the best possible. When we make mistakes, everyone knows. Between social and mass media, we are guilty of being inept, corrupt, racist, and more.
We train police officers in many legal and tactical areas. We train them how to be professional and yet safe at the same time. And we hope they have the mental ability to handle the aftermath of what they see everyday.
How do you teach someone to react to the dead, the raped, the beaten?
How do we teach them to deal with the sight of so many sad and vicious incidents?
How do we convince them that the majority of the public we serve support our efforts?
How do we get past the us versus them mentality?
How do we mend police-community relations as individuals and departments when mass and social media do everything they can to destroy them?
Distrust is borne from a lack of understanding and knowledge. In order to have knowledge, it must be communicated. Lines of communication must be opened . . . and it is difficult. Speaking to groups of people who have harbored an anger for so long is hard.
Regardless, we must listen. More importantly, we must hear and learn. It is up to us to bring change. It is our duty to be courageous, not just in the face of danger but also in the face of adversity. To stand before the community and let them speak.
We will hear things we will not like.
We will hear things that we know to be untrue.
We will hear hate.
We will be hearing the voices of those who have no way to know any different . . . because they are without the knowledge we possess.
It is up to us to share that knowledge.
Trust isn’t gained in a day with a speech. Trust is earned.
It is up to the leaders of the law enforcement community to mend what is broken. To be as transparent as possible, to make the time to meet with community stakeholders, and to do so consistently. We must change the ways of the past if we are to be successful in the future.
We at the Galveston (Texas) Police Department initiated a police-community relations program known as Protect with Respect. Our program focuses on both the officers and the citizens. We brought in civilians to train our officers in discussion groups to allow the citizens to ask questions. To ask the police why we do the things we do, because they do not know. They, in turn, relayed to the officers the impressions the officers actions left on them. It has been an eye opening experience for everyone involved.
We invited and met with every church, neighborhood association, business organization, and civil rights group on the island and continue to do so. The leaders of these organizations have direct lines of communication with me and with my commanders. When they call, we respond, and it works.
I’m not here to promote myself; however, I must share this with you to display the success we have experienced.
Last Thursday, December 11th, the President of the Galveston NAACP, David Miller, spoke before the Galveston City Council. Mr. Miller stated that what happened in the aftermath of the Ferguson incident would never happen in Galveston. Mr. Miller stated this would not happen because of the relationship he and other organizations have with the police department. Mr. Miller stated when he calls, we answer.
We constantly seek out opportunities to meet and discuss issues in our community. We have built a foundation of trust through transparency. We are public servants. We must make the time to serve in all capacities to the best of our ability. We must not make excuses.
It is our duty.
Henry Stephen Porretto
Chief of Police
Galveston (Texas) Police Department
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