CommentsGUEST WORDS--We applaud the Los Angeles Police Department for expanding its community policing program known as the Community Safety Partnership and appointing now-Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides to lead it.
This is a good step towards creating “guardian” police officers as opposed to the current dominant prevalence of “warrior” officers. As UCLA Professor Jorja Leap, who has coauthored a study on community policing, recently stated, this is an opportunity to transform policing, not just reform policing.
Transformation of policing is what we urgently need. While we are encouraged that city leaders are seemingly now more focused on the communities’ needs, there are still numerous changes needed within the police department and with how the city protects and serves its citizens.
With the public and media also focused on change, let’s seize this opportunity. We need to implement comprehensive, long-term, systemic shifts. As we listen to our national conversation, we hear many great ideas: demilitarize the police, fund other agencies and empower them to solve problems currently handled by police, improve non-violence training, increase drug treatment options, and build more temporary housing for those who are living on the streets are among the ideas.
These are all important steps that need to be carried out. However, there is one proven way to better policing that we are not hearing much about: An effective tactic towards changing warrior culture to one that is truly a “protect and serve” culture is changing the type of officers we have at all levels of the police department. That is, we must make it a priority to recruit, retain and promote women especially from our region’s varied racial, linguistic, immigrant and geographic communities.
Significantly increasing the number of female officers is long past due. For decades, the concept has received the equivalent of a condescending nice pat on the head and a “that’s a good idea.”
Turning the concept into reality has been a struggle.
But we know that increasing the number of female officers helps solve a whole host of policing and societal problems. We know it works. Study after study show it works. Real life proves it works. Police departments all over the nation have seen that it works. Including the LAPD.
Female officers are significantly less likely to use excessive force. They are less likely to employ deadly force. Female officers are better at diffusing violent confrontations. They have better communications skills and are better at facilitating trust. They are more effective at handling domestic violence incidents, which account for many of the violent criminal calls received. In fact, the presence of female officers impacts the reporting and the response by women who are victims of assault.
The presence of women changes the overall culture of policing. Studies show that having more female police officers positively influences the behavior of male officers. Increasing the presence of female officers reduces sex discrimination and sexual harassment within a police department. Time and money spent on excessive use of force lawsuits goes down because there is less excessive use of force.
In 1991, the Christopher Commission investigated excessive use of force within the LAPD and in its report said, “Virtually every indicator examined by the commission establishes that female LAPD officers are involved in excessive use of force at rates substantially below those of male officers.” The commission explained, “Many officers, both male and female, believe female officers are less personally challenged by defiant suspects and feel less need to deal with defiance with immediate force or confrontational language.”
That was 29 years ago. What are we waiting for?
Let’s not debate need or efficacy any longer. We urge Los Angeles city leaders and the LAPD to commit time, energy, focus and funding to recruit, retain and promote more women. And they need to prioritize this effort so that it is integral to the current transformation efforts.
Right now, female police officers make up 20% of LAPD. Take a moment and envision the opposite – picture an LAPD that had 80% female officers and 20% male officers. How would that impact our neighborhoods, residents, business owners, or anyone who visits the City of Angels?
This isn’t about gender parity. This is about building a police department so that it is trusted, and everyone feels confident when they call 911, a police officer will show up to protect and serve them.
Our focus today is on Los Angeles, but we urge increasing the number of female police and peace officers everywhere. Police departments and law enforcement agencies nationwide would benefit. So would all Americans.
(Laura Chick is former Los Angeles City Controller, Penny Harrington is former Chief and founding Director of the National Center for Women in Policing, Grace Yoo is an attorney.)
-cw
