What Are You Doing To Make
Things Better?

By Bob Catinazzo

A question each Police Chief (and the rest of us) MUST answer

Like you, over the past few months I have continued to watch America lash out at the law enforcement profession.

To say it sickens me to the core is an understatement.

Protests, riots, and much debate continues throughout this country with no end in sight.

What do we as a country need to do to move from protest to progress?

COLLABORATION IS KEY

Coming together as a country is going to be vital moving forward. We must be able to have tough conversations without lashing out at each other.

There are various opinions and different views on the topic of Police reform.

I ask you this: Is Police reform the problem or the solution?

To me, our problems and solutions run a lot deeper than police reform, however, based on recent events; it is where we MUST start.

Since the George Floyd incident, I have continued to offer my opinion on police reform via social media and personal conversations with lifelong friends.

Like you, I have discovered that some people have a very different opinion than I do on police reform. As such, I have been very careful to not engage in arguments with people who differ in opinion.

Sadly, I learned a hard lesson on how volatile this topic is from a young lady whom I have been friends with for years. Her opinion was so different than mine that she unfriend me on Facebook and refused to talk with me anymore based on her obvious hatred for the police and what she perceived to be my defense of them.

Unfortunately, as in most instances these days, most of her venom was about politics, not police reform. She decided to unfriend me, rather than continue the discussion.

The solution will never come if both sides of the debate don’t listen to each other. We need to look no further than the democratic and republican politicians as a perfect example of why things don’t get done in this country (that’s a topic for another day).

I have learned that EVERYONE has an opinion on police reform, yet NOBODY offers a solution. WE must focus more on conversations that lead to solutions.

OPINIONS VARY

During the aforementioned conversations with my non-law enforcement friends, I realized that not only did they NOT offer up a solution, they continued to vent their frustration about seeing NO change since the Floyd incident.

Another example is our professional athletes who say they kneel for the flag to bring attention to social injustice, yet they offer up no solution; they just continue to kneel and put slogans on their helmets, jerseys and sneakers.

Moreover, the NFL spent the first thirty minutes of opening night on Thursday night football highlighting more player protests. Not to my surprise, they were booed when they displayed unity and joined hands.

Why do you think they were booed?

In my opinion, the kneeling, protests, and rioting has worn out its welcome. 100 straight days of protesting is more than enough to bring attention to your cause.

I believe people are tired of being made aware and just want to see actions that lead to progress.

There is a difference between awareness and solutions.

I think we can safely say the topic of police reform has our attention. It is time to sidestep the venom and start conversations with solutions.

It is time for action!

IT IS SOLUTION TIME

One solution out there calls for defunding the police.

WHAT!

How are we going to improve an organization by removing money from its budget? I can only say this one way, the change you are demanding is going to cost money.

And,

The change you are demanding is going to involve a systematic approach from outside of the law enforcement profession.

That’s right, I said from outside the profession.

I retired from the law enforcement profession six years ago and have spent all six years learning how to change culture through the Practicing Perfection approach.

If I knew then what I know now, the DEA would have the best culture in the world.

Police trainers are some of the best trainers in the world; however, they do not possess the knowledge nor the expertise in changing culture in a way that affects organizational change; they don’t.

Cultural change has never been a priority for law enforcement trainers. Rightfully so, the training priority has always been to survive a hostile situation.

Police training must now add a second priority, and that new initiative will cost money.

Therefore, we must FUND the police in so that funds are earmarked for MORE training.

(Note to the NFL and NBA players: Put your money where your mouth and knee is.

You keep talking about using your “platform”. Well, use it this way:

Send “social justice” money to the police department in your city for culture transformation training.

Don’t you think this would be a good way to use your “platform,” rather than inciting division and anger from those who agree with you and do not agree with you?

Contributing to the solution with action will mean more, and impact the situation more than slogans on your helmets, jerseys, and sneakers.)

To turn protests into progress, solutions need to be transparent. Each Police Chief must become an advocate for his team and the press.

The public needs to see what you are doing!

To rebuild trust between the police and community, Police Chiefs must become public relations experts and do a better job showing the public what they are doing internally to initiate the desired change