While there has certainly a lot of talk about looking at hiring practices for SFPD I am NOT sure that is the bigger issue. I think our police force needs, no deserves, better ongoing training. Not only in diversity and criminal justice, but also integrity and ethics. I personally think that consistent and frequent training of our officers would produce better officers in the long run.
Citizen advocate Emmett Reistroffer said this recently on his FB page;
The City of Sioux Falls, Mayor Paul Ten Haken, and Police Chief Thum must immediately begin the process to seek accreditation for the Sioux Falls Police Department. It’s not enough for city leaders to simply say they’re “angry” about the recent arrests of officers – we expect a plan of action, and in my opinion, that begins with ensuring our department implements best practices, including independent oversight and auditing. Accreditation alone won’t solve every issue or prevent every case of misconduct, but it should drastically improve the culture within the department and establish standards for excellence. Everyone stands to gain from accreditation, including the Chief, officers, and community members.
Accreditation helps police departments operate more professionally, justify their operations, and promote trust in their community. Most accrediting programs require agencies to assess high-liability areas of their operations, provide officers with more training, and hold officers accountable for policy and training compliance. Accreditation also promotes transparency and self-reflection within an agency, which fosters a culture of accountability. When an agency enrolls in an accreditation process, they are committing to excellence in leadership, resource management, and delivery of services.
Recently at Amir Locke’s funeral in Minneapolis, his Aunt spoke out about police and the job they have. While most of her eulogy embraced how police treat young black men, she did touch on something (FF 40:50) that got me thinking when it comes to ALL police officers ‘We don’t want to hear about being a police officer is a difficult job . . . You were NOT drafted into the police department. You chose that profession.’
Her statement is poignant, because she is absolutely correct. Deciding to take a career in policing is your choice. And if you make that choice, you have to live up to a certain code of conduct, on and off the job.
In fact, if you choose to be a police officer, you are NOT even in the top 10 of dangerous jobs. Police officers rate 18th nationally.
Trust me, I am not putting this all on a person who chooses the profession. Anybody that works for the tax payers should feel safe, but that safety only comes from being well-trained and professional.
So far 3 Sioux Falls officers have been arrested over the past 6 weeks or so, there may be more, no one knows for sure, even Lincoln County State’s Attorney Wollman was uncertain if more arrests would be made due to officer Jock allegedly distributing child porn videos.
But there is a bigger gorilla in this mess, LACK OF LEADERSHIP!
I have been warning for quite awhile that our city leaders have been on cruise control and only focused on handouts to big donors (mostly massive tax breaks for developers and insider land deals) instead of the day to day operations of the city.
The city charter clearly states the role of the Mayor (City Manager);
§ 31.002 POWERS OF THE MAYOR. The mayor shall have the power to prescribe executive orders for an interim successor and for the creation of departments of the administration, as provided in city charter §§ 2.03 and 4.01. The mayor shall also have the power to prescribe rules and regulations that the mayor deems necessary or expedient for the conduct of employees in departments and administrative agencies subject to his or her authority. The mayor shall have the power to revoke, suspend or amend any executive order, provided the executive orders do not conflict with city charter or ordinance. All executive orders shall be filed with the city clerk.
That middle sentence is important, because that is ultimately his ONLY duty as mayor, and Poops has failed miserably. In fact you could argue it is a dereliction of duty. While he is off in the weeds worrying about policy making (the job of the council) he has done very little to lift up the SFPD or even regular city employees who have to go begging for an inflation bonus.
Just look at the list of directors or managers that have either quit on their own, were terminated or retired in 3 short years;
• TWO Fire Chiefs
• Police Chief
• Planning Director
• Deputy Chief of Staff
• Housing Director
• Building Services Manager
• Innovation Manager
• The FIRST and ONLY Chief Cultural Officer (this was the supposed important one he needed to get the city employees inline with his imaginary initiatives)
• Health Director and one Assistant Health Director
I may have missed a few.
I don’t think the city has a hiring problem when it comes to selecting new officers, they have an ongoing training problem, and I am not sure this Mayor and Police Chief are cut out for it. As I said in public input during Tuesday’s meeting, ‘Politicians get angry when they get caught.’ TenHaken got caught not running the city and the police department properly and all the crocodile tears in the world won’t fix it.
The real problem here is that people need to get rid of their cell phones, or use them more sparingly. I know that is easy to say, but I seldom use mine.
Cell phones are not a communication device, rather they are a control device which either controls the owner of it, or the owner uses the cell phone to control others. I only carry and use my cell phone when I know their is a developing family emergency, or when I travel.
30 years ago, this current challenge for the SFPD would not be happening. People need to grasp how technology changes us, controls us, and guides us both as individuals and as members of society.
If there needs to be any training here, it needs to be found in a greater development of self-control concerning the use of cell phones. The AA principle of one day at a time and not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow would go a long ways in helping to end this disturbing and current tragic situation for the SFPD. Because the real addiction here is the use of the actual cell phone itself and not any particular content itself. A particular content or usage may speak to a lack of empathy for others, or illustrate a character flaw, but its the reality of addiction that needs to be addressed here and the actual addiction here is cell phone usage itself, which then tragically develops the, or a, dark side in some.
AND, I believe that we all have addictions and continue to exercise them throughout life, but luckily for most of us they are addictions which are socially acceptable and/or legal, and thus, training is never sought or encouraged for.
#LessCellPhoneUsage #StopBeingACellPhoneNerd
( and Woodstock adds: “VSG, at first you kind of sounded like the Unabomber, but then I think you saved yourself with a true Dr. Phil closing”…. “Good job!”… )
One more thought, just as vinyl records and film are making comebacks, landlines need to make a comeback, too. #OutdoorMovieTheaters
( and Woodstock further adds: “VSG sounds like some kind of retro-techno-Amish guy, if you ask me”…. )
I’m confused. Obviously, these cops are lib’rals, and voted for Xiden. Probably identifies as being Child Attracted, so it’s OK….you know, cause they identify as such.
In the present climate would you want to be a cop? They’ve lost respect from conduct of a few. Certainly, there could be more qualifications and training. Nonetheless, given the pay, you get only self righteous bullies with a chip on their shoulder. They have ego and power to arrest you on trumped up charges. Gone is the time when you told your child to trust a cop.
Body cameras could keep them professional and protect them from police abuse accusations. If there’s a circumstance when the camera is off, the cop should do a desk job until there’s a completed investigation. Everyone behaves when they’re on camera. Also, there’s legally accepted evidence. Meanwhile, keep your cell phone handy for video protecting yourself or others.
VSG, I disagree, addiction and lack of self control has been around for thousands of years. Doug Stanhope said it best, “Kid f’ckers were around a 1000 years before FB and they will be around a 1000 years after FB is gone.â€
l3wis, true, but technology is facilitating it and challenging and controlling people in ways they don’t even realize until its too late. Capability, or lack there of, plays a big part in the civility of humanity. For example, rich people kill themselves accidentally all of the time with their toys (small airplanes), which most of us cannot afford. If we were rich like them, then what would be our fate?
This sort of process, essentially a paper trail of adherence to and compliance with policy, would have been right up the alley of the former police chief. I always perceived that Chief Burns’ personal strength was that of a master paper-shuffler. Crime increased and the culture of the police force suffered the result of the performance of his duties as a chief administrator, rather than as a strong organizational leader.
If a goal of an accredidation program is to minimize occurence of sworn officers running afoul of the law, I would forewarn that an accredidation would offer a false sense of confidence and security.
In an outline of one credentialing organization, there seems very little relative to officer candidate selection/screening. Just boxes to check to verify that “boxes are checked” during the pre-employment human resources process relative to verification of education and training.
I contend, even in an accredited law enforcement organization, county sheriffs are still going to wreck patrol cars while driving intoxicated (a recent event for the HennepIn County, MN sheriff), officers will still be arrested for domestic assault and officers will still get caught up in stings for child pornography … because they are humans.
The real winners in an accredidation program – police chiefs, county sheriffs (anyone who has to stand in front of a mic after an incident) and those involved in risk mitigation for the municipalities.
Very easy, after the fact of an occurence (e.g. pursuit of a fleeing suspect in an automobile) to apply a stark “black and white interpretation” for that which evolved quickly along a spectrum of gray as the incident unfolded for the officer at the time.
“Well, we have a policy on that. See Section 5.12.243.” (yes the standards of accredidation are written in this fashion). “He/she should have recalled the contents of Section 5.12.243. He/she should not have done that. He/she is no longer employed as a police officer with us.” [turns to rinse hands in the Pontious Pilate wash bowl].
“Maybe the SFPD could use a Chief Cultural Advisor”…. “But would two chiefs in a department be confusing?”… “You never want too many chefs, I mean chiefs, in a kitchen, right (“Or is that ‘chefs’?)”…. “Perhaps, another mannequin challenge would help from time to time, then you could pick out the chief you need for a particular issue or event as they all standstill”….
I hope PTH’s election challengers will take note of your revolving door list of departed directors/managers, and use it in campaign speeches, Q & A and/or debate. That’s a truly sobering indication of PTH’s leadership failure and poor judgement, which even his Reformed Dutch Mafia Taupeville Barbie & Ken supporters would find difficult to downplay with any credibility.
“Taupeville Barbie & Ken”: Something tells me that we have a reality TV show here.