To transform police administration today, we simply need better information. We have to arm police chiefs, command staff and frontline supervisors with crisper, clearer information to make better, more informed professional standards decisions.
Look across so many different industries and you’ll see that there’s so much good information driven by research and analytics around human capital management — that is, the business of managing people.
And when you think about it, policing is very much a people business — in the sense that it’s not a profession that can be done through robotics; it’s not a profession that doesn’t involve people interacting.
And so how we think about managing and supporting that workforce is absolutely critical. And the way we’re going to continue to evolve police departments and police department administration, is rethinking the information we provide to everyone who’s empowered to make decisions, so they ultimately make better decisions around early warning and early intervention. A lot of those decisions are internally focused: How does the organization become better managed? What information is needed to drive culture more effectively inside policing organizations? What information is needed to support officers?
We ask officers to do so much . . . we ask them to put themselves in harm’s way. We ask them to work with and deal with folks who are mentally ill. We ask them to deal with the toughest, most hardened criminal elements. We ask them to deal with traumatic situations all the time. So how can we can look in the mirror and say in a very honest way that we can ask human beings . . . people . . . police officers . . . to do that incredibly difficult work and not rethink how we then back them up and how we support them?
As you evaluate your current professional standards and early intervention systems and look to the future for improvement, doesn’t it make sense to rethink and transform how you manage your workforce — like so many other industries today? Consider the role that research, data and analytics can play in helping make more educated, objective and proactive decisions. It could be a game-changer for advancing the goals of your department and enhancing the careers of your officers.
Read about our pledge to Uphold the Honor of the Badge. We’re dedicated to transforming police force administration, professional standards management and early intervention through research and analytics.