Tribal Community Policing

Beat Intro
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.

Interview
Debra McCullough
00:08	This is Debra McCullough with the COPS Office. With us today is Bob Bryant, 
chief of police at the Penobscot Nation Police Department. Chief Bryant is here to 
talk with us today about how the Penobscot Nation Police Department is 
advancing community policing. Chief, the Penobscot Nation police is often 
recognized as a leader in community policing. Can you tell us how you, as chief, 
have advanced community policing efforts in the Penobscot Nation?

Chief Bob Bryant
00:43	I think it began here back around the time of December 2006. I assumed 
command of the Penobscot Nation Police Department after the current chief was 
let go. We had had a rash of burglaries and other property crimes throughout the 
community. There was a rise in juvenile-related crimes. Generally, the public had 
a lack of faith and trust with the police department from their perspective.  There 
was also some morale problems within the agency.

	One of the first steps that I looked at was that we had to change the mindset of 
the agency staff itself, and that was to change it from an isolated approach to one 
that we were able to incorporate a component in a circle that would help identify 
and resolve issues within the community. I explained that this was not going to 
be happening overnight, but I did ask that they take a bold step in a different 
style of policing, one that they weren’t accustomed to. I explained that through 
training and other changes in the organization and the incorporation of a 
community-oriented mindset. If we incorporated it into our operations and 
policies, for one we could reduce crime and we could also restore the public’s 
confidence in us. We would see that by working collectively with the other tribal 
departments and citizens that our job would be much easier. I explained that we 
needed to do this together.

	The training was one that we looked at and was done by reaching out to the 
COPS Office. We had a three-day training session here in the community. 
Included in that training was a social night. That involved a sit-down meal with 
the community, elected officials in other tribal departments and personnel, and 
the law enforcement staff. We had traditional drumming. We had dancing. We 
began the foundation of positive communication. 

	The training helped identify a lot of real issues, ones that were perceptional 
problems also, though they were still issues that needed to be addressed. I looked 
at the training as a springboard, which was something that we needed for that 
collaborative approach, and it’s still growing today.
	
Deb
03:09	Could you give us an example of a specific public-safety problem that your agency 
faced and tackled through community policing?

Bob
03:19	I think one of the problems we first identified was an increase in crime 
specifically related to juveniles. One of the first changes we looked at and took 
was to include the youth at the table at some of the decision-making processes 
and discussions because it directly affected them. The collaboration included 
youth workers, the cultural department, elected officials, law enforcement, 
educators, health care providers, and other service providers. We knew by 
creating a dialogue with the youth, they would begin to know that they were 
stakeholders in the community. That was important. The respect and 
responsibility for their actions was restored.

	Some of this was done by creating a new teen center and having them at the 
table to discuss what they would like to see for activities there and to find out 
what they saw as the real problems that needed to be addressed. From this we 
did a reduction in the core age group of issues such as underage drinking, 
vandalism, and other inappropriate type of behaviors. Looking at that and 
bringing them to the table and having them part of that process and part of a 
solution to that did help reduce some of those criminal activities.

Deb
04:43	We’re talking about partnerships. What types of partnerships with tribal 
governments, businesses, or community groups, has the police department 
advanced as a result of the work that you’ve been doing?

Bob
04:59	Early on we started to forge relationships with other tribal departments such as 
social services, the health department, educators—the housing department was 
another crucial agency that we found that we needed to really collaborate with. 
We looked at how could we come together in addressing the issues within the 
tribal nation here at Penobscot. We created coalitions such as the Tribal Youth 
Advisory Group which was a group looking at, overall, the whole juvenile justice 
process and also how we could look at finding alternative types of activities and 
alternative types of sentencing when we did bring a juvenile into the justice 
system, rather than the old traditional punishment that went along with 
traditional courts. We formed a drug abuse task force. We also included the staff 
here in the health department’s prevention committee. That looked at many 
proactive and prevention measures to address issues and how we could create 
policies that supported each department in a collaborative approach.

Deb 
06:12	Were there any organizational changes such as hiring and recruitment, strategic 
planning, increased transparency, that you initiated to advance community 
policing?

Bob
06:25	Early on there was a review done of the organizational approach, which included 
the SOP—the standard operating procedure—here at the department. I 
understood that we really needed to incorporate that methodology within the 
SOP, but I knew it was going to take some time. A timeline was laid out to 
revamp the SOP, with an emphasis on incorporation of the community-oriented 
approach. One piece of the revamping of the policies was to solicit feedback 
from other service providers and elected officials, and some community members 
also, on how the policies assisted them and what they expected from their police 
department. This was done not only for the inclusion purposes but also to place 
transparency, because that was an important element to our approach in our 
working relationship with other departments and the citizens as a whole. 

We began to work with the tribal administration on short, medium, and long-
range strategic planning. We incorporated what was called a logic model format, 
with emphasis on what the nation’s goals and objectives were. We formed a plan 
and a mission that invoked that philosophy and direction. These changes were 
given to all tribal elected officials, tribal departments, and were available to all 
community members that requested a copy.

In regards to the recruitment of new personnel, we put an emphasis on that early 
on. Since 2006, all candidates that interviewed for the police department were 
asked a series of questions. I wanted to understand what they knew of 
community policing and how its methodology governs an agency’s approach to 
serving a community, how it’s important to the success of solving issues within a 
community also. We are all stakeholders here.

Deb
08:28	Do you have any recommendations for tribal law enforcement agencies on how 
they can advance community policing in their nations?

Bob
08:39	You know, the first step is to fully understand that the police are the community 
and the community are the police. This has to be more than just a slogan; it has to 
be understood and believed until all officers of an agency, from the top on down, 
understand that we cannot operate in an isolated fashion. 

I saw this early on in my own career. I worked in an agency where I lived in one 
town and worked in another. I sort of had the sense that we were like an 
occupying force that patrolled the shift then went home without any connection 
or empathy for what the real issues were. That system, to me, fails. We have to 
believe that we’re a partner with the citizens, other service providers, and elected 
officials also. If we’re going to achieve the ultimate goal—that is, the reduction 
of crime and the elimination of fear in our neighborhoods—that’s the method we 
have to approach. When this mindset and approach is adopted, the results will be 
evident. Clearly, if you take this mindset—this community approach rather than 
working in isolation—and you give it a shot, you’re going to find that it’ll be 
proven and it’ll show success.

Deb
09:54	Chief, thank you so much for your time and your expertise today.

Bob 
10:00	You’re welcome.

Beat Exit
Voiceover: 	
10:01	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.

Disclaimer:
10:17	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.


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