It is disheartening to see the phenomenon of hate embraced by so many people who don't understand the origin, meaning, or impact. To grasp the significance, you must first understand what it means. It is an intense, deep-seated emotional response of strong dislike,...
MAJOR BEN’S ARTICLES
Below is a list of articles by Major Ben Brooks that have appeared in the Times Herald.
Daddy, What Time Will You Be Home Tonight?
Every family member asks this question daily. I wonder how many leaders realize the gravity of that question for their officers. When they get up in the morning, they have quiet time with their family before embarking on, hopefully, another routine day at the office....
Leaks
A leak is an unintended hole, crack, or fault that allows a substance- such as a liquid, gas, or light- to escape or enter a container or system. As a child growing up in the rural South, I watched my father build his own home. At that time, he installed a tin roof....
Masks and Officer Safety
As a career law enforcement officer, I am perplexed by the recent debate over officers wearing masks. Everything I learned about law enforcement involved honesty, integrity, and, most of all, transparency. The federal government has a duty to present law enforcement...
Bias Understood
As an international speaker, trainer, and consultant, I have been intrigued by the lack of understanding of various terms, with people using them without knowing their meanings or applications. At one of my National Speakers Association conferences, a presenter shared...
Fear and Bias as a Law Enforcement Blind Spot
Fear – an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger real or imagined. Origin - past experiences (0-6) History - nomadic days (fight or flight) Survival function - to protect us, triggered by a significant event, i.e., hot, cold, wet, trauma Source: New...
DEI America’s Biggest Blind Spot
In 2016, I took a course with AARP in defensive driving. Having been driving since I was sixteen, I was curious about what the instructor could teach me. I signed up for the course to get a discount on my car insurance. As the instructor went through his orientation,...
DEI, The Latest Bogeyman
DEI is the latest catchphrase that is the catalyst for the present state of the divided states of America. We raise and salute the flag as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America. As patriotic as that sounds, it is far from our day-to-day...
A Practical Approach to Addressing School Shootings
After Columbine, over four hundred school shootings were reported in America. Every citizen should be outraged that our society has allowed that to happen. Schools should be the safest place in our community for our students, staff, and teachers. It is challenging to...
A Nation Of Cowards
Former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder once said that America is a nation of cowards and he received a great deal of pushback for his statement. As I listened to his pronouncement, I wondered what was the concern about his statement. America has always had an issue with...
The Reality of Community Policing
By Major Ben Brooks
Many police executives approached community-oriented policing with a great deal of skepticism because they didn’t realize the critical role that the community plays in their success. Many felt they could do it on their own.
Dr. Lee Brown, a former police commissioner and former mayor of Houston, Texas, is known as the father of community-oriented policing. He recognized very early on that the success of law enforcement was intricately intertwined with their involvement of the community in addressing issues of criminality. As a visionary, he recognized that it was important for law enforcement to work smart as opposed to hard. Involving the community was the most expedient mechanism to achieve that goal.
Law enforcement was very reticent to adopt the philosophy because of the feeling that only law enforcement had the answer. Consequently, there was not a universal embracing of the philosophy. I say philosophy because it is a process that must be inculcated in the psyche of all law enforcement personnel. Ironically, many law enforcement officials treated this as a program. We know that programs have short lives as opposed to a philosophy that is an integral part of law enforcement lives.
Departments that embrace community-oriented policing are situated to be more effective in their crime-fighting efforts. Having an opportunity to employ all available resources is critical to their success.
The recent incident involving the killing of the healthcare executive in New York is a classic example of what happens when the police systematically engage the community. It was heartwarming to see how expeditiously the alleged killer was identified and arrested.
The NYPD recognized the urgency in identifying and apprehending the alleged suspect by engaging the eyes and ears of the public in addition to the effective use of social media. In years past, solving a serious criminal incident may have taken an extraordinarily long time to identify and apprehend the suspect. Because of their immediate engagement with the community and social media, the incident was brought to a conclusion in a very short time. This is an example of employing the concept of community-oriented policing to its fullest extent. We can never forget the role that community plays in the success of the law enforcement journey.
In training on community-oriented policing, there is a strong emphasis on the two most critical senses that police officers must have to be effective: eyes and ears. This was the prevailing strategy in the past when officers employed the concept of burning shoe leather, going door to door questioning citizens about criminal incidents.
Employing new technology of social media, in addition to burning shoe leather, law enforcement had the benefit of working smart, particularly as a TEAM, which is an acronym for, Together Each Achieves More. Thanks to community policing.