This past week has been tough. There was a fatal officer-involved incident in my city, and as you can imagine, it has evoked more emotion because of its proximity and my past advocacy for this agency.
I’d like to share more once my thoughts are fully collected, and as time permits. One of my concerns centers on how police leadership responded during a presser.
Being a police chief is exceedingly challenging, especially in a blue city. I also know that an absence of strong police leaders nationwide is one of the key drivers of the current police recruitment emergency.
Facing angry crowds is intimidating, yet several of us, including my husband, Steve, did it regularly at city meetings, even though it was often unpleasant.
We stood up, not only because it was the right thing to do, but because we saw a true leader in Chief Mike Koval (retired). I wish every officer could work under someone like the Chief; he’s that rare chief who is gifted with leadership skills and strong ethics. In fact, if it weren’t for him, I most likely would have never been inspired to work in my current capacity.
Great leaders inspire and they are exceedingly rare. And for political reasons, some of the truly great ones don’t stand a chance of being hired in ideological-driven jurisdictions.
For now, I’d like to direct your attention to several pieces that have caught the essence of this past week. Police Law News has an astute analyses of the events, including his thoughts on leadership’s reaction.
Another excellent piece I’d like to share was written by Chief Scott Hughes, a recently retired Ohio-based police chief who runs Crosden Consulting, and who is also a valued member of our police coalition. He gave me his permission to reprint this.
I wish every police leader in the country would read this.
By Chief Scott Hughes (ret.)
𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁.
I’ve watched the video, listened to the chief’s press conference, and read everything I could find about the incident. Like most people, my first thoughts were about tactics and use of force. As I continued listening, my focus shifted to leadership.
𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝.
What stayed with me wasn’t the reporters’ questions. It was the officers involved in the incident, and every other officer in that department watching their chief’s response. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were all asking themselves one simple question:
“𝐼𝑓 𝐼’𝑚 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡-𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑?”
During the press conference, the chief acknowledged that one of his officers had been stabbed. In my opinion, that was an opportunity to explain a reality of police work that many people don’t understand. When officers are confronted with a deadly threat, there is a very real possibility that deadly force will be used to stop it. Explaining that isn’t the same as declaring the investigation over. It helps the public understand why these encounters sometimes end the way they do.
Some believe the safest response is to say as little as possible. The problem is that silence rarely calms a community. It creates a vacuum, and that vacuum is filled by speculation, misinformation, and people who have already decided the outcome before investigators have had the opportunity to gather all of the facts.
You can support your officers while still allowing the investigation to run its course. In fact, I’d argue that’s exactly what good chiefs are supposed to do.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.
Will you please say a prayer for the officer involved and for all of Madison’s Finest? The agency still employs some of the best cops in the country and they don’t deserve any of this.
For the Blue is a solutions-based initiative. I’m just an American patriot asking questions. I don’t work with any political party and I answer to nobody. For me, the health of the nation, due process (including for police officers), the rule of law, and respect for individual liberties, will always transcend party affiliation. I welcome your thoughts, even if you disagree; though personal attacks will be ignored. You can reach me at fortheblue@substack.com.
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