Defund vs. Reallocate: A Shift in Conversation

What a time it is to be a Black helping professional woman in America! I have been exploring my own personal and professional conflicts and did so in a recent blog post. I have just been feeling overwhelmed from all of the back and forth and information overload. I have seen this hashtag before and it just hit my heart differently this time. My brother is a State Trooper and not because I am his sister but he is REALLY good at his job. He works in a small county and has experienced some pretty unimaginable things, even while he was in training. Throughout all of this he has ALWAYS taken time to evaluate and reconsider his thought processing. He did this in training and even now when he pulls over others and when he is interacting with them. His careful calculation and thought processing is what keeps him safe. I VERY RARELY hear him mention drawing his weapon. I am not saying this as if I know everything about what it is to be in law enforcement. My brother is also one person. I also, however, know this about my dad. He worked as a military police officer in the Air Force for a couple of years. He has the same calculated demeanor as my brother. While my dad is less patient, he still takes time to think through things and talk through things before making decisions.

There is a common misconception that shoot first think later is a calculated decision. I am here to disagree. There may be situations that lead to a person being forced to protect themselves, but I don't think if you are a trained professional who is supposed to be equipped in deescalation and handling firearms that they would say to you, "if you are afraid, draw your weapon and shoot." Now if I am wrong, I welcome criticism and discussion involving this. It is my observation that many local police offers cover regions and neighborhoods regularly. So it would make sense for an officer to get to know the constituents of the area he or she covers, right? So this is where my point lies. Officers should have an understanding of a couple of things. They need to have an understanding of the neighborhood they are serving and the history, culture and experiences of the people who inhabit it. When we say #defundthepolice, what we are doing is taking funding and jobs away from the calculated and calm law enforcement officers like my dad and my brother. We take the rug from under them.

Let's take it away from my family. Let's move to Little Rock Arkansas where America's favorite police officer resides, Officer Tommy Norman. His efforts to understand and get to know those he serves are unprecedented on such a wide platform. He highlights and makes known the humanity of the constituents of his neighborhood. He has established familiarity and connection which removes fear. If we defund the police, how is he going to continue this and continue to teach other officers his methods? So I have some suggestions for how we can #reallocatefunds. If we are going to be strategic in how we reform in America, we need to help individuals gain a better understanding of who they are working with which comes with education, training and relationship.

1. Cultural competency and sensitivity training

We are different. This is a known fact. The power of understanding allows us to explore and appreciate those who are different from us. A major barrier is when law enforcement officers have little to no desire to understand the cultural makeup of the individuals they serve. I spend a lot of time exploring teen culture. I have spent years really understanding why they like the music they like, watch the television they watch and wear the clothes they wear. By gaining a better understanding, I can more effectively work with them because I am not judging them. This does not mean I agree with everything they do. I can't understand a word of the music they listen to, Bad Girls club is awful and don't even get me started on them wearing leggings as pants. I did however take the time to understand this is important to them and so we can connect even when we disagree or see something different. Law enforcement officers MUST explore this and understand how to do it and consciously practice it. It doesn't mean they HAVE TO go play basketball in the neighborhood and do line dances at a family reunion, but it would be beneficial if they understood the cultural makeup of why this is important to the neighborhood they are policing and why they shouldn't view it as a delinquent activity every single time they see it.

2. Trauma Informed Care Training

Trauma Informed Care training is loaded with information that guides helping professionals in exploring the early experiences of those they serve and incorporating them into the manner in which people react to certain situations. This would be overall extremely helpful for law enforcement officers because if they are able to explore the differences in stress reactions and the different development categories of the brain, they can react out of knowledge and understanding versus fear. It also humanizes people they come across on the street everyday. The truth is all of us have some type of stress reaction. Trauma Informed Care also creates space for one to consider their own personal traumas and how their brain is developed and how they respond to stress. I think this is groundbreaking to help law enforcement officers think more calculated about their past traumas and how this affects their own work. I also believe this will filter out officers who do not have the capacity to do this. This work is not for everyone. This applies to any helping profession.

3. Anti - Racism Education

I am receiving education myself on how to better explain what this is and why it is needed. There are individuals and groups that have been providing this training for years and it is just now becoming highlighted in mainstream conversation. I hate it has taken so long for me to gain an understanding of what it is and how it works. This supports research around the concept of explicit versus implicit bias that Dr. Anita Phillips talks about in this interview I watched. Implicit racism is built into the culture of one's worldview without realizing that it is indeed racist and that individual is able to hide their intent behind actions and systems. While I have not experienced racism myself, I have been involved in programs, agencies and organizations that operate with implicit racial tendencies that allow for black people to be disregarded and kept at an unequal disadvantage, which means black people are treated differently. Education in this area is needed and necessary.

4. Extend time for training

I am aware that each police academy is different. It is my observation that training times vary. Oftentimes, however, most of time is filled with paperwork, background checks, clearances, physical training and then of course firearms training. According to the Georgia website "candidates may enroll in GPSTC’s Basic Law Enforcement Training, which is a rigorous program that consists of 408 course hours and takes 11 weeks to complete. After a candidate has completed the program, they are eligible for POST certification and for employment as an entry-level law enforcement officer." 2 and a half months. I am not sure what the post certification requires, but that would be a perfect time to include all of the training I mentioned above. Let's check up north. According to my Google search NYPD training goes for up to 26 weeks, which I believe is a good amount of time for training. My constructive criticism is the type of training listed does not include any of the things I mentioned. There are actually very little training topics that cover how to interact with people and I don't see deescalation either. Here in Birmingham, they are only required to be in training up to 5 weeks. They. Need. More. Time. How can you properly prepare an individual to cope with their own personal biases and values in how they handle people in 5 weeks? or 11 weeks? And how do they know how to interact with people and build relationships with a community if they go to training for 26 weeks and you don't talk about people?

So this is where reform is needed. I observe defund the police will be a detriment and a tragedy to an already tragic situation. Let's trend #reallocatefunds. Let's reconsider how we reconstruct the helping professional world and make some real change for black people in America