I didn’t envision becoming a chief of police, let alone the president of the IACP. I remember my days as a young peace officer, learning the tools of our trade in the Southern California cities of Garden Grove, Irvine, and Laguna Beach.

During those early years, I remember one sergeant, in particular, who had a profound impact on my life. As opportunities for leadership have presented themselves, I have tried to emulate the words and actions of Sergeant Jim Broomfield from Irvine, California. Jim encouraged me to work hard, treat people right, show them the respect and dignity that they deserve, and have some fun along the way. He exemplified these attributes as well in the way that he trained all of us in the department.

There have been so many who have trained, mentored, or just helped me become a chief—and become a better chief. I am grateful to all of you. I especially appreciate the support from my family; friends; town manager, Scott Robson; coworkers at the Town of Vail; and the Vail Police Department Team who have supported me through the years. I know they will be there for me during this year as president of IACP.

Last year’s trifecta of a worldwide pandemic; a summer of unrest following the death of George Floyd, which resulted in calls for changes in policing; and an overwhelming number of natural disasters has left our country reeling. I don’t know about you, but as a law enforcement professional, there have been days when I have felt as if I’m under attack. We are seeing the effects of this in declining numbers of applicants who want to be officers, increasing retirements, and reduced staffing overall. You, however, have still made it work even though it has perhaps been more difficult than at any other time in the history of law enforcement. I appreciate those of you who are still committed to protect and defend our communities. We need the best and brightest to lead us through these times.

As I look to the future, the mission of building or rebuilding community trust will be my top priority. It is also the agreed-upon priority for the next five incoming IACP presidents. We all believe that building and rebuilding trust in our communities and around the world, is something so critical that we cannot lose focus on it as our primary objective. This is in full alignment with the IACP Strategic Plan and will be the laser focus of all IACP actions in the coming years.

There is a perception that communities distrust the profession of policing. This is due to many factors, including a small number of high-profile incidents. In some communities of color, there is little expectation that the police will be there when called upon. We are being painted with a broad brush of mistrust based upon politics, misinformation, and the actions of a few. But, in some cases, we may deserve the mistrust of our communities.

The IACP is committed to addressing these, and other issues, on a national and international level; but this is not work that we can do for you. It will be hard work that we do together, and I am inviting each of you to join me in recommitting ourselves to this vital labor of importance for our communities.

I am fortunate to be a chief serving in a resort community. I have the daily opportunity to talk with many people from around the world who tell me how much they trust their police officers. I know that is the case for many of our communities as well because of the work you are already doing. It is my opinion that many organizations engaged successfully in this type of work after the events that occurred during 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. But, as we all learned during the tension, unrest, and violence of the summer of 2020, there is much work that still needs to be done.

In 2016, then-IACP President Terry Cunningham acknowledged and apologized for the historical wrongs made by police officers in the past. That kind of honesty and clarity opened doors of opportunity to engage with those feeling alienated from law enforcement, especially those living on the margins of society and particularly those of color. It is my hope that we will continue to work to break the cycle of mistrust and build common ground between law enforcement and the people we serve.

Policing worldwide needs to work on building trust with the citizens we serve in order to build legitimacy for the important work we do—namely helping keep our communities safe and prevent disorder. I believe the words of Sir Robert Peel are as relevant today as when he first shared them in 1829:

The ability of the police to perform their duties depends on the public approval of the police, existence, actions, behavior, and the ability of the police to secure and maintain public respect.

The degree of cooperation of the public that can be secured diminishes, proportionately, to the necessity for the use of physical force and compulsion in achieving police objectives.

The police should use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient to achieve police objectives…

The police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police.¹

Crime and violence are on the rise in many communities, and we face a challenging way forward to address these increases while still building trust. Our response should never be interpreted as an “occupational force” but in terms of a community-wide, collaborative approach that seeks to reduce crime opportunity and addresses the wanton and senseless violence that permeates many of our communities. An excellent example comes from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In 2016, the IACP began leading the Office for Victims of Crime’s Law Enforcement and the Communities They Serve: Supporting Collective Healing in the Wake of Harm initiative, which worked with five demonstration sites to improve community-police relations and community wellness, enhance victim services, and support officer and agency wellness and resilience.

One of the five demonstration sites was the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) under the leadership of Chief Murphy Paul, Jr. The agency’s leadership recognized the effects of multiple events on racial tensions and the resulting trauma on both the police and the community. The collective healing work successfully led to increased community trust through the development of a community-led advisory council to support law enforcement efforts to reduce violent crime; the launching of the Baton Rouge Street Community Team, which is part of the mayor’s “Safe, Hopeful, Healthy” initiative; and the creation of a Healing Coalition—a network of community organizations that works with the BRPD to incorporate youth-led initiatives aimed at improving the relationship between the youth of the community and law enforcement.

There is much work to do. But I am confident we can be as successful in this endeavor as Baton Rouge has been. I am confident because I know the quality of hard work evident in the policing profession around the world! I am confident that as a profession, our best days lie ahead of us.

To help you with this trust-building process, the IACP is reviewing and evaluating our past body of work to ensure that it continues to meet our current situation. We are looking for gaps within our portfolio. To incentivize those that do the real work of building trust one contact at a time in the field, we have created the opportunity for the officers, deputies, and troopers to earn a ribbon pin with the IACP Trust Building logo for their uniform. To earn this ribbon each department will have to conduct a community trust assessment and take on tasks that involve such things as policy, community engagement, and training. We hope to roll this program out in the coming months.

I invite you to please check out the IACP website and the Trust Building Campaign to actively participate in the program so that your organization and officers can build legitimacy for the important work you do to ensure a safe community.

My vision is to see most of our officers wearing the IACP Trust Building ribbon on their uniform in the coming years!

Additionally, if you have not done so already, please join the PIO Section’s #PathForward program to help illuminate the great work our employees do daily! It is important for us to highlight our success stories, so that our communities understand the full spectrum of the services we provide.

As I close, I want to thank President Cindy Renaud for her excellent leadership during this difficult past year and especially commend the tremendous staff of the IACP. I look forward to seeing you all in Dallas, Texas, October 15–18, 2022, if not sooner!

Thank you for the trust you have placed in me to lead our association through these difficult times.d

Note:

¹San Jose Police Department, “Sir Robert Peel’s Principles of Law Enforcement, 1829.”