{"id":64143,"date":"2021-08-01T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/?p=64143"},"modified":"2025-02-12T12:35:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T17:35:40","slug":"accountable-and-inclusive-policing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/","title":{"rendered":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><small>Art Acevedo, City of Miami police chief, joins a Gun Violence Peace March on June 16, 2021, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/small><\/p>\n<p>Criminals prey on the most vulnerable of our neighbors. It is these individuals\u2019 vulnerability that makes them attractive to someone seeking to take something from them\u2014whether that is their property, the sovereignty of their bodies, or control of their lives. Police leaders appreciate intuitively that the marginalization of their neighbors, resulting in a lack of access, agency, representation, and participation in crucial processes, increases people\u2019s vulnerability and leads to greater potential for victimization. Some of the most historically marginalized portions of society include communities of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. That marginalization can be multiplied where these communities intersect. When neighbors are marginalized, they feel they don\u2019t have access to justice and the criminal justice system or that such access does not lead to positive outcomes for them, and they will often, understandably, stop engaging with the system. This lack of engagement further contributes to their marginalization and, hence, vulnerability. Conversely, actively celebrating diversity, providing ready access, and including all aspects of the community equitably through policies, practices, and diverse personnel will decrease marginalization and vulnerability and improve engagement and outcomes for individuals and communities.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullout alignleft\">Valuing Internal Diversity<\/p>\n<p><em>Fred Fletcher, Chief of Police (Ret.), Public Safety Consultant<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I walked into my first police in-service class as a nervous rookie officer eager to fit in, to find a place where I belonged. As I scanned the room for a place to call home for the day, I noticed something startling\u2014the room was segregated. All of the black officers were sitting together in one part of the room, while all of the white officers were sitting together in another. The distinction was glaringly, painfully obvious, but as I scanned the room for guidance or just recognition from senior officers, everyone else seemed completely oblivious to the situation. Maybe they were just accustomed and resigned to it. Why were my team members choosing to isolate each other and themselves? I had no idea, but I knew that if people did not feel safe to engage others unlike themselves within an organization, we were probably not succeeding at making outsiders feel safe engaging with us. Thus, began my journey to understand the ideas and the power of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Fast forward more than three decades, and my work as a public safety consultant has me asking police chiefs questions such as, \u201cHow many openly LGBTQ+ people work in your organization?\u201d The all-too-common answer of \u201cnone\u201d reveals many organizations where their members do not feel safe living their own truths. Again, if members of an organization do not feel safe, how can those it serves feel any safer? It is clear there is a connection between valuing diversity internally and embracing it externally.<\/aside>\n<p>The first step to improving diversity, inclusion, and equity in policing is recognizing and acknowledging how the origins and actions of policing in the United States have contributed to certain neighbors\u2019 marginalization and vulnerability. Policing in the United States has a long, sordid history that frequently is not discussed openly enough. In the United States, policing has roots tied to slave patrols and the protection of coastal mercantile interests.<sup>1<\/sup> Over the generations, police and the political establishments to which they have reported have continued to generally, unilaterally define safety and order in ways that protect established interests while excluding minority and marginalized voices and communities\u2014particularly communities of color\u2014through practices like the enforcement of post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws, protection of \u201csundowner\u201d towns, suppression of labor unions, and support of political machines against community activism.<sup>2<\/sup> Policing has all too frequently\u2014and all too recently\u2014been used more subtly, and often unintentionally, as a tool of oppression through policing approaches whose consequences have not been well studied or developed in concert with affected communities. Such policing can often disproportionately impact communities of color and the most disenfranchised neighbors. However, addressing this history and this reality prepares law enforcement to begin to forge a new path that, while complicated and potentially frightening, is also absolutely necessary and possible.<\/p>\n<p>The contrast between the promise of U.S. policing and its reality has often been stark, especially when one reflects on the foundational principles of modern policing first espoused by Sir Robert Peel in the 19th century. Peel\u2019s principles include the admonition that the public are the police and that the power of the police depends upon public approval.<sup>3<\/sup> That is, the Peelian principles insist that police exist and succeed only through true partnership with and subjugation to the community. This is as true today in the United States as it was 200 years ago in England. To succeed, policing needs to see, value, and engage a diverse community. Furthermore, there is a direct connection between a workplace that values and reflects diversity in an equitable manner and one that is able to provide service to a diverse community. The path forward will necessarily involve building meaningful relationships, empowering a broad group of collaborators to contribute to developing policing approaches, and adopting concrete policies.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullout pullout--wide alignleft\">Connecting with Victims<\/p>\n<p><em>Paul David Smith, High School Principal (Ret.), Director of Reconciliation, National Network for Safe Communities<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While facilitating a meeting of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in the library of the school where I was principal, I received a text that one of my students had been shot and was being rushed to the hospital. I brought the meeting to a close and drove to the hospital to see the student and wish him well, but, instead, as we walked toward a gathering room, the doctor informed us that he had died. His mother screamed and fell to the ground in a heap. I heard the cries and screams of his family members as the medical staff led us to the room where the student lay, and I stood by his half naked body filled with tubes and covered in blood stains as he was lying there dead, eyes wide open. I held his family as they cried in agony over their loss. As his principal, I soon had the agonizing task of eulogizing the student. Between the murder and the funeral, the student\u2019s family received no visit from police or city officials to express their condolences. His mother told me that she felt unsupported and that the \u201cpolice don\u2019t care about another black boy dead in the streets anyway.\u201d I reached out to a police captain and asked him to visit the victim\u2019s mother, in uniform, which he did, but it was not enough. As a leader in the black community, I recognized we had long been marginalized and neglected, and we needed to see more from the police who had no systematic outreach to victims of violence, who were overwhelmingly and distressingly members of the black community. A few years later, I was hired as the city\u2019s public safety coordinator and, a short time later, we hired a new police chief and began a journey together to address the com-plex equation of diversity, inclusion, and equity issues within the police department and for the community.<\/p>\n<p>To begin to address the inequities facing victims of violence, who were overwhelmingly people of color, we immediately engaged the community to work directly with the police in such a way that provided the portion of our community most affected a significant voice in developing a response. Together, this community-police partnership developed a unique response that would operationalize a focus on supporting victims of crime with direct action. Working with a newly promoted assistant chief, a veteran black officer familiar with the black community and its needs, we collaboratively developed a rapid and flexible mechanism to visit victims of serious violence and present a focused offer of help from law enforcement, the community, and social service providers. When we were at a loss to name this new effort, we simply called it what we were doing: Community and Police Responding to Victims of Violence (CPRVV).<\/p>\n<p>Unlike traditional community support and outreach efforts, CPRVV would proactively and humbly seek out and connect with victims, co-victims, survivors, and their families wherever they were and however they were. The goal was to provide a community-based wrap-around response to their needs and to do so as law enforcement and community together, as equals. We wanted to show that we, as a complete community, cared about their loss, wellness, and recovery. We wanted to show that they had a place in an equitable, inclusive response to their loss. CPRVV visits are conducted anywhere necessary, often in the hospital or at the home, with the victim and close family members or significant others encouraged to attend. These efforts preceded a later introduction of a professional victim services capacity; precipitated increased participation in the criminal justice system; and, later, dramatically improved rates of clearance for related crimes. This was a program developed by the community, for the community, with the police.<\/aside>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAddressing this history and this reality prepares law enforcement to begin to forge a new path.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As mentioned, one of the core Peelian principles of policing is that the power of the police to fulfill their obligations requires the support of the public. <em>The Final Report of the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing<\/em> reinforces this 200-year-old principle when it recommends that law enforcement engage in \u201cco-production\u201d policing.<sup>4<\/sup> Co-production policing means that the broader community is empowered to have a voice and agency in the development of policing strategies and approaches. Peel\u2019s principles allude to what is now known as procedural justice and its core tenets of equity, transparency, voice, and impartiality. Every aspect of a diverse community wants and deserves to have a voice in how policing is implemented. Because of the direct relationship between the way diversity is valued and reflected internally and the way it is valued and engaged externally, real growth toward inclusivity and equity starts with organizational change. One of the first organizational changes to be implemented is to promote a top leadership team that deliberately reflects the diversity of the department and the community it serves.<\/p>\n<p>Building on these fundamental truths in observance of legitimate claims of inequity and lack of inclusion in processes by the black community and other traditionally marginalized communities, police agencies also need to implement co-production of policing. To that end, for example, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Police Department created a working group of neighbors, activists, community leaders, and civil rights groups to work with the police department to identify policies, practices, and procedures that would ensure delivery of police services in an inclusive and equitable manner. That working group produced actual approaches that were implemented to improve the way the police department provided fundamental internal processes such as the promotional process, which had been previously identified as less than equitable. Improving internal equity demonstrates to team members and community members a commitment to this core value and provides a foundation for similar community-police co-production collaborations on external efforts. Those external collaborative products include the efforts highlighted by Paul David Smith and Stacy Johnson (see sidebars) and others like a real-time intelligence center, a minority internship program, public safety cameras, and a minority recruiting program.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullout pullout--wide alignleft\">Empowering the Community<\/p>\n<p><em>Stacy Johnson, Executive Director, La Paz Chattanooga<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As director of Chattanooga, Tennessee\u2019s Latino advocacy organization, I had never known the Latino community or our organization to have a meaningful relationship with the police department or to be asked to influence policy or practices. Our clientele did not generally trust the police, and, frankly, our organization had no reason to convince them otherwise. The immigrant, Hispanic, and Latino community in our city felt marginalized, unseen, and unheard by the police, which made them feel less safe. This, of course, made them less likely to engage with the police and criminal justice system, which, of course, made them even less safe. One day, we received a phone call at the little house deep in our Latino neighborhood that La Paz called home. It was a new police chief calling to tell us he was coming to town to serve all of our neighbors, especially the most marginalized like our growing but underserved Latino population. He asked if we were willing to work together to help all our diverse population feel included and valued. We immediately arranged to host a Meet the Chief event for our Latino community. More than 300 Latino community members filled the cafeteria at a local elementary school. Two hours into the meeting, community members were still asking questions\u2014and getting answers. They left empowered with information and resources, as well as cellphones full of photos of themselves together with community officers. This is how our journey to support the connection between our immigrant and Latino community and the police began.<\/p>\n<p>The police soon engaged and empowered La Paz to provide input and feedback on behalf of the Latino community\u2019s unique needs and concerns. Together, we\u2014La Paz, the Latino community, and the police department\u2014collaborated as equals to identify needs, service shortfalls, and productive responses. Such responses included police providing colocated office hours directly in the Latino community at La Paz offices, police representation on the La Paz board of directors, co-production of the Refugee Immigrant Safety Education (RISE) program, participation in the Enhance Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV) project, and other efforts like a minority recruiting plan to engage our entire community by offering financial incentives to anyone who successfully recruits a minority candidate to the police department. The Latino community was invited to participate in the process of hiring new police department staff, in hosting police roll call events on their front porches, to support a Hispanic Citizen\u2019s Police Academy, and to contribute to other parts of building a police response. Notably, La Paz was chosen as one of the community organizations to take part in an innovative cadet community immersion project designed to teach prospective police officers about the community directly from the community itself. La Paz hosted multiple town hall meetings with the police and introduced police to Latino business owners, giving them information on how to best secure their businesses and families. The police listened to their specific challenges, built meaningful relationships, and crafted effective responses together with the Latino business community. Within a relatively short time, we observed Latino business owners working with local police, and they solved robbery and theft crimes together. Community members began to report feeling safer and became more likely to report crimes.<\/aside>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cPolicing efforts must be procedurally and socially just and directly accountable to the people who empower the police in the first place.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Expanding upon the original Peelian principles of policing and more modern ideas of procedural justice is the concept of social justice. Social justice is based on a fair and just relationship between individuals and society and distinguished by four foundational concepts across a broad spectrum of basic human needs like wealth, education, health care, safety, and opportunities: (1) equity, (2) access, (3) active participation, and (4) individual rights. Social justice is an essential component of healthy, effective communities and is also necessary for neighboring communities to feel safe. While true social justice is a goal that transcends policing, it cannot happen in an environment where people do not feel safe. Feeling safe starts with effective and procedurally just policing that includes all community members equitably.<\/p>\n<p>Policing is often inclined to praise its heroes for successes and condemn individuals (or \u201cbad apples\u201d) for failures to live up to its promises. This focus on individuals and their abilities, desires, and intentions instead of on organizational values, policies, and practices that constrain misconduct and promote equity can be very dangerous territory. Professor and activist Ibram X. Kendi said in <em>How to Be an Antiracist<\/em>,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Americans have long been trained to see the deficiencies of people rather than policy. It\u2019s a pretty easy mistake to make: People are in our faces. Policies are distant. We are particularly poor at seeing the policies lurking behind the struggles of people.<\/em><sup>5<\/sup><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_64150\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64150\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-64150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1320408620-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-64150\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children speak with police officers mounted on horses during a rally denouncing anti-Semitic violence on May 27, 2021, in Cedarhurst, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Instead of writing off the hopes for progress by simply praising people for doing the right thing and criticizing the \u201cbad apples\u201d for doing the wrong thing, it is necessary to explore practical policy solutions produced in true partnership with the community that can produce an environment that promotes inclusive and equitable behavior and eliminates contrary and unacceptable behavior. The profession should commit to principles and concepts that share a commitment to the fundamental beliefs that policing is accountable to the community for its existence, its purpose, and its approaches and that those approaches should support the welfare of the community in a fair, equitable way. Policing efforts must be procedurally and socially just and directly accountable to the people who empower the police in the first place\u2014the community members. Some practices to begin with include the following:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>Acknowledge and teach the oppressive origins and utilization of policing in the United States as part of any basic training and continuing education.<\/li>\n<li>Implement true co-production policing in which the community has substantive voice and authority in determining the scope of law enforcement, its basic roles and responsibilities, and its approaches.<\/li>\n<li>Demonstrate appreciation for diversity and a commitment to inclusion within policing organizations.<\/li>\n<li>Invest in partnerships that can create alternatives to relying solely on policing and enforcement that include sophisticated evidence-based study of the roles, responsibilities, and strategies of local policing with a goal of reducing the expectations and demands placed on policing to address broader community wellness issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<aside class=\"pullout alignleft\">IACP RESOURCES<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theiacp.org\/resources\/document\/protecting-civil-rights-a-leadership-guide-for-state-local-and-tribal-law\">Protecting Civil Rights: A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theiacp.org\/projects\/iacp-communities-of-color-toolkit\">IACP Communities of Color Toolkit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>theIACP.org<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/building-relationships-with-transgender-individuals\/\">Building Relationships with Transgender Individuals<\/a>\u201d (article)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/aside>\n<p>If our neighbors don\u2019t feel safe to engage with law enforcement, they won\u2019t report crime or fears. If our neighbors don\u2019t report their concerns, police cannot respond to the incidents or the feelings, whether individual or aggregate. If our neighbors don\u2019t share what they experience, the police cannot know what they are going through and cannot effectively help them. Lack of inclusion and appreciation can lead to distrust, which can lead to people not engaging with the police, which leads to police being unable to address crime and safety issues, which leads, like a M\u00f6bius strip, back to distrust. Consequently, one of the most important things the police can do to uphold their sacred obligation to help their neighbors be safe and feel safe is to work deliberately to make everyone feel they are represented, that they are included, that they are valued, that they have a voice, and that they have agency in the processes that affect their safety. The journey begins with embracing diversity, inclusion, and equity in the agency\u2019s people, policies, and practices. Such efforts must be both inward-facing as well as outward-facing. That is, any organization that hopes to improve its appreciation of a diverse customer base while increasing inclusion and feelings of equity, must also practice those values internally within its own organization.\u00a0<span style=\"font-family: Webdings;\">d<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<table style=\"border-style: none; background-color: #102c4e;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"623\">\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-64152\" src=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fletcher.jpg 1888w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><big><strong>Fred Fletcher<\/strong> is a public safety consultant, specializing in helping agencies improve their support of victims and responses to intimate partner violence; violence against women; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, he served as chief for Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Rockport, Texas, as well as in various command positions at the Austin, Texas, Police Department.<\/big><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"623\">\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-64153\" src=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Smith-1-300x296.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Smith-1-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Smith-1.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><big><strong>Paul David Smith<\/strong> is the director of reconciliation at the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he previously directed the Chicago Violence Reduction Strategy. His previous roles include public safety coordinator for Chattanooga, Tennessee, and executive principal of The Howard School.<\/big><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"623\">\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-64154\" src=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-283x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-283x300.jpg 283w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-967x1024.jpg 967w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-768x813.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-1451x1536.jpg 1451w, https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnson-cropped-1934x2048.jpg 1934w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><big><strong>Stacy Johnson<\/strong> is the executive director of La Paz Chattanooga, a nonprofit organization that works to empower the Latino community through advocacy, education, and inclusion. She also serves on the board of directors of the Chattanooga Enterprise Center, Chattanooga Women\u2019s Leadership Institute, and the Highland Park Commons.<\/big><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>Olivia B. Waxman, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/4779112\/police-history-origins\/\">How the U.S. Got Its Police Force<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0<em>TIME<\/em>, May 18, 2017.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup>Waxman, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/4779112\/police-history-origins\/\">How the U.S. Got Its Police Force<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><sup>3<\/sup><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/04\/16\/nyregion\/sir-robert-peels-nine-principles-of-policing.html\">Sir Robert Peel\u2019s Nine Principles of Policing<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>, April 15, 2014.<\/p>\n<p><sup>4<\/sup>President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cops.usdoj.gov\/\"><em>Final Report of the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em>(Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2015).<\/p>\n<p><sup>5<\/sup>Ibram X. Kendi\u00b8 <em>How to be an Antiracist <\/em>(New York, NY: One World, 2018), 28.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Please cite as<\/p>\n<p>Fred Fletcher, Paul David Smith, Stacy Johnson, \u201cAccountable and Inclusive Policing: Three Perspectives on Diversity and Equity,\u201d <em>Police Chief<\/em> 88, no. 8 (August 2021): 34\u201341.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Criminals prey on the most vulnerable of our neighbors. It is these individuals\u2019 vulnerability that makes them attractive to someone seeking to take something from them\u2014whether that is their property, the sovereignty of their bodies, or control of their lives. Police leaders appreciate intuitively that the marginalization of their neighbors, resulting in a lack of access, agency, representation, and participation in crucial processes, increases people\u2019s vulnerability and leads to greater potential for victimization. Some of the most historically marginalized portions of society include communities of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. That marginalization can be multiplied where these communities intersect. When neighbors are marginalized, they feel they don\u2019t have access to justice and the criminal justice system or that such access does not lead to positive outcomes for them, and they will often, understandably, stop engaging with the system. This lack of engagement further contributes to their marginalization and, hence, vulnerability. Conversely, actively celebrating diversity, providing ready access, and including all aspects of the community equitably through policies, practices, and diverse personnel will decrease marginalization and vulnerability and improve engagement and outcomes for individuals and communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4042,"featured_media":64148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[621,799,912,1938],"class_list":["post-64143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-police-engagement","tag-community-policing","tag-diversity","tag-equity","tag-marginalization"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Three Perspectives on Diversity and Equity","post_author":"Fred Fletcher, Chief of Police (Ret.), Public Safety Consultant; Paul David Smith, Director of Reconciliation, National Network for Safe Communities; and Stacy Johnson, Executive Director, La Paz Chattanooga","main_category":"Community-Police Engagement","legacy_article_id":"","legacy_issue_id":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.4 (Yoast SEO v24.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Accountable and Inclusive Policing - Police Chief Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Accountable and Inclusive Policing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Criminals prey on the most vulnerable of our neighbors. It is these individuals\u2019 vulnerability that makes them attractive to someone seeking to take something from them\u2014whether that is their property, the sovereignty of their bodies, or control of their lives. Police leaders appreciate intuitively that the marginalization of their neighbors, resulting in a lack of access, agency, representation, and participation in crucial processes, increases people\u2019s vulnerability and leads to greater potential for victimization. Some of the most historically marginalized portions of society include communities of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. That marginalization can be multiplied where these communities intersect. When neighbors are marginalized, they feel they don\u2019t have access to justice and the criminal justice system or that such access does not lead to positive outcomes for them, and they will often, understandably, stop engaging with the system. This lack of engagement further contributes to their marginalization and, hence, vulnerability. Conversely, actively celebrating diversity, providing ready access, and including all aspects of the community equitably through policies, practices, and diverse personnel will decrease marginalization and vulnerability and improve engagement and outcomes for individuals and communities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Police Chief Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheIACP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1689\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Margaret White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheIACP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheIACP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Margaret White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret White\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8ccef21069086f34ed017e84cdf4fe52\"},\"headline\":\"Accountable and Inclusive Policing\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\"},\"wordCount\":3493,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"community policing\",\"diversity\",\"equity\",\"marginalization\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Community-Police Engagement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\",\"name\":\"Accountable and Inclusive Policing - Police Chief Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1689,\"caption\":\"Art Acevedo, City of Miami police chief, joins a Gun Violence Peace March on June 16, 2021, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Accountable and Inclusive Policing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/\",\"name\":\"Police Chief Magazine\",\"description\":\"Police Chief Magazine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Police Chief Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo-name-blue.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo-name-blue.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":246,\"caption\":\"Police Chief Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheIACP\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheIACP\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theiacp\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/international-association-of-chiefs-of-police\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8ccef21069086f34ed017e84cdf4fe52\",\"name\":\"Margaret White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b67fdacd41a113c9b50b72876662774?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b67fdacd41a113c9b50b72876662774?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Margaret White\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/author\/nimble__whitetheiacp-org\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing - Police Chief Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing","og_description":"Criminals prey on the most vulnerable of our neighbors. It is these individuals\u2019 vulnerability that makes them attractive to someone seeking to take something from them\u2014whether that is their property, the sovereignty of their bodies, or control of their lives. Police leaders appreciate intuitively that the marginalization of their neighbors, resulting in a lack of access, agency, representation, and participation in crucial processes, increases people\u2019s vulnerability and leads to greater potential for victimization. Some of the most historically marginalized portions of society include communities of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. That marginalization can be multiplied where these communities intersect. When neighbors are marginalized, they feel they don\u2019t have access to justice and the criminal justice system or that such access does not lead to positive outcomes for them, and they will often, understandably, stop engaging with the system. This lack of engagement further contributes to their marginalization and, hence, vulnerability. Conversely, actively celebrating diversity, providing ready access, and including all aspects of the community equitably through policies, practices, and diverse personnel will decrease marginalization and vulnerability and improve engagement and outcomes for individuals and communities.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/","og_site_name":"Police Chief Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheIACP","article_published_time":"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1689,"url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Margaret White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TheIACP","twitter_site":"@TheIACP","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Margaret White","Est. reading time":"16 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/"},"author":{"name":"Margaret White","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8ccef21069086f34ed017e84cdf4fe52"},"headline":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing","datePublished":"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/"},"wordCount":3493,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","keywords":["community policing","diversity","equity","marginalization"],"articleSection":["Community-Police Engagement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/","name":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing - Police Chief Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-01T12:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-12T17:35:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1689,"caption":"Art Acevedo, City of Miami police chief, joins a Gun Violence Peace March on June 16, 2021, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/accountable-and-inclusive-policing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Accountable and Inclusive Policing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/","name":"Police Chief Magazine","description":"Police Chief Magazine","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#organization","name":"Police Chief Magazine","url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo-name-blue.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo-name-blue.png","width":500,"height":246,"caption":"Police Chief Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheIACP","https:\/\/x.com\/TheIACP","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theiacp\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/international-association-of-chiefs-of-police\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8ccef21069086f34ed017e84cdf4fe52","name":"Margaret White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b67fdacd41a113c9b50b72876662774?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b67fdacd41a113c9b50b72876662774?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Margaret White"},"url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/author\/nimble__whitetheiacp-org\/"}]}},"category_objects":[{"term_id":127,"name":"Community-Police Engagement","slug":"community-police-engagement","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":127,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":126,"count":358,"filter":"raw"}],"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1323952086-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64143"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89587,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64143\/revisions\/89587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}