<\/p>\n

<\/a>What would have happened on that hot August afternoon had a social worker come upon Michael Brown on Canfield Avenue? What if a social worker saw Eric Garner selling loose cigarettes in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island? My hunch is that they\u2019d both be alive today.<\/p>\n

Among those who want reform, there is considerable talk about community policing. The Department of Justice defines<\/a> community policing as:<\/p>\n

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I went to the Occasional Planet\u2019s Director of Plain Speak who said that what it means is a cop with a heart. Well, there\u2019s probably more to it than that and we don\u2019t wish to imply that most cops do not have a heart. An effective community police officer has much the knowledge of a social worker, such as what approach to take when an individual or a group of people are truly upset about something. It\u2019s also someone who can brainstorm solutions to seemingly difficult situations. Whether you\u2019re on the \u201cmean streets\u201d of the inner city or closeted away in the hidden lanes of the farthest suburbs, there is essential work that community police officers can do.<\/p>\n

We do have examples of community policing, in both our actual history and fictional history. Remember the beat cop that actor Sean Connery played in The Untouchables<\/a>. He was a guy who would befriend you on the street, but when necessary bop you upside the head with his night stick.<\/p>\n

From the 1960s through the 1980s, many police forces made efforts to hire an \u201cOfficer Friendly.\u201d While much of the work of these officers was visiting pre-school and kindergarten classes, they also were present at a number of events where they could mingle with the public. But one Officer Friendly does not make a friendly police force.<\/p>\n

Think of how we are now most likely to encounter a police officer. It\u2019s the speeding police car coming to the scene of–something, and they often seem to be loaded for bear. The grainy image below is the car in which two police officers in Cleveland arrived at a park to encounter a boy with a toy gun.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Just two seconds out of the car, one officer shot and killed the boy. Perhaps an accident, but it is part of the elevated risk that we take when we demand that police officers to take a narrow vision of society and to regard others only as either potential criminals or \u201cgood guys.\u201d
\n