America has always been a divided society. Racial, social, political, and economic divisions have long existed and resulted in frustration and a mutual lack of trust. In recent years, those frustrations have increased, leading to a breakdown in civility and the rule of law, increases in violent crime, and calls for the defunding or the elimination of law enforcement. These events have only served to deepen the divisions that exist in an environment where various interests line up against one another in a win-or-lose posture.

Within this landscape, a conversation has begun about making a significant shift in policing, to transition from a traditional reactive approach to a more proactive model in which there is greater involvement and engagement with the community. One promising approach is the use of the Transformational Policing Model (TPM). The TPM is an outgrowth of the six pillars identified by the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing initiative. The foundational “six pillars” from the task force were the first steps in transforming policing into a workable and socially balanced form of policing.