Powers On Policing

Our guest today is author and retired police officer Frank Scalise. Frank, who writes under the pen name Frank Zafiro, has produced more than thirty novels and countless short stories in the genre of police procedurals. All are authentic, topical, and well written. None are more timely or relevant though than the two we will discuss in this episode. I believe our discussion serves as an exclamation point to the end of this chapter in our podcast series directed towards police and community engagement.

Frank candidly discusses his views on policing and community engagement in both the past and the current environments. He notes how in retirement he is still passionate and concerned about the business and culture of law enforcement. However, his outlook and opinions are now more fully developed because for the first time they are formed from the standpoint of an outsider looking in and not the other way around. 

He notes that his concerns about the fractured relationships between our police and the communities they serve are primarily based on misunderstandings, mistruths, and a lack of rational discussion between all parties. With those concerns as a background, he set out to write a story that would not sugarcoat or slant the storyline toward one set of beliefs versus another. The result was “The Ride Along” , a truly eye-opening, thought-provoking and challenging exercise that will cause all readers to pause and consider and question their own thoughts and opinions. The book is co-authored by Colin Conway, an author and former colleague with Scalise on the Spokane, Washington Police Department.

Please consider purchasing these two books from the Frank Zafiro collections. You won’t be disappointed! Both are available on Amazon and other book selling platforms.

“The Ride Along” is true to the title. A veteran midnight police officer in Spokane Washington is assigned a ride-along passenger for the midnight shift. His “partner” is a member of the Police Reform Initiative (PRI) and, he believes, is an opponent and not a proponent of the city police force. The entire story takes place during one night and explores their response to radio calls and the personal interactions, and spirited dialogue that follows. The conversations are thought provoking from all views and ultimately, are a cause for soul-searching and difficult decision making.

“The Tattered Blue Line” is an anthology of fourteen short stories authored by folks who work in the criminal justice environment, but who have differing responsibilities. As a result, their writing may be fiction, but it evolves from their work experiences that allows them to present and explore points of view and implicit biases from several divergent angles. 

You can also reach Frank at his website: www.wrongplacewritecrime.com

Our conversation continues with retired police superintendent and current college professor, Dr. Paul Joyce. 

In this episode, Paul discusses community policing as a philosophy and not a collection of protocols or checklists that are set in stone. He describes it as a way forward by building strong partnerships, to problem solve and improve quality of life in neighborhoods. He talks of the need for all community stakeholders to buy in to the effort and invest their time and resources to make it a long-term success effort. He suggests politicians, community spokespeople, business owners, religious leaders, as well as the courts, probation, and parole officers, all must have a seat at the table.

The conversation turns to training as Paul talks about the purpose of police academies. He says that if there is to be a serious methodology to educate and enlighten members of the department, and to create a healthy work environment, then the most knowledgeable and respected officers should serve as teachers and mentors and not disgruntled employees who are assigned there for punishment purposes. He also speaks about the need for officer wellness to sustain the physical and mental well-being of all officers. In efforts to recruit new candidates and retain the best officers, constructing long-term programs that are beneficial to the officers overall health and wellness are an essential component to any strategy.

We end by spending a few important moments to talk about his position at Salve Regina University and their efforts to create innovative programming that progresses from the classroom to the practical application of what they learned. He refers to it as “learning by doing” and has found it to be the best way to prepare students for success in criminal justice related professions. 

Our guest in this episode is Dr. Paul Joyce, a retired Superintendent of the Boston Police Department, and current Assistant Professor and Chair of the Criminal Justice and Criminology Program at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. 

In any serious conversation about the best methods to generate a meaningful, collaborative effort between police and the communities they serve, Paul should be the featured speaker. His professional qualifications put him in the upper echelon of those who can truly say they have, and continue to, “Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk”.

Paul spent three decades working as a police officer on the streets of Boston. He began his career as a uniformed patrol officer, before transitioning to the detective branch. Over time, he was promoted through the ranks, with a final assignment as the Superintendent overseeing the Bureau of Professional Development, Training and Education. A strong believer that an educated police officer would be well positioned to advance through the ranks into positions of leadership, Paul earned his way to an undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degree. He has retired from active policing, but his career in public safety continues in on a new path, as a highly regarded college professor with a specific focus on law enforcement and related criminal justice disciplines.

 Listen as he talks about his role in creating the highly successful Youth Violence Task Force in Boston in the early 1990’s. and the successful methods they developed and employed to combat rapidly growing street crime, a crack cocaine epidemic and raging gang warfare. 

It is time we brought knowledgeable, educated, street smart police officers like Paul Joyce back into any significant discussion about modern policing efforts and the need to engage with the communities they are sworn to protect. After listening to this episode, I’m sure you will agree.

In part two of our interview with retired police chief and recent author Kristen Ziman (Imagining Blue: Thoughts on Life, Leadership, and a New Way Forward in Policing), we focus on recent events and the resultant calls for police reform with an increased expectation of deliverable police services. We discuss the best way for law enforcement to meet those demands as well as the need for a significant government investment of money and resources to provide more education and training for all police departments.

Kristen talks about the development of leadership in the police service, and why it is now an important component of all levels of training. We talk about the essential qualities of a leader and the need to show respect and build trust with others if you expect them to follow your lead. A chief or supervisor should not hide their vulnerabilities in areas where they are deficient or unqualified. They should seek the help of subject-matter experts to support and aid in the pursuit of the Department’s mission(s). 

Listen as the conversation segues from theoretical to real-world situations. Kristen candidly describes three events that not only tested her leadership but left indelible marks on both her career and life. The first occurred in 2019 when a shooter opened fire on co-workers, killing five and, in the ambush that followed, five responding officers were wounded. The following year COVID struck, virtually shutting down everything in her city, except police operations. She speaks to the unified effort of all Department members and their willingness to adapt and adjust to ensure that the safety and protection of all Aurora’s residents came first. The last, and perhaps most debilitating crisis, was the unexpected need to confront the rioting, looting and the loss of public trust in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, more than four hundred miles away. As Kristen succinctly puts it, “We went from heroes to zeroes in less than two years” and did nothing wrong. 

Our episode concludes with Kristen reflecting on her retirement and relocation to Florida. In her newly found “free time” she has turned to writing essays. This prompted her desire to write a book about her life and the lessons she’s learned about leadership along the way. Her important life messages shared in print and in podcasts such as this one, have led to speaking engagements about leadership and consultant opportunities with other police departments.

Kristen Ziman is the boss you always wish you had! Like the legendary example of the kid who started in the mailroom and rose to be company CEO, Kristen started her police career as a 19-year-old cadet and rose through the ranks to become Chief of the Aurora, Illinois Police Department.

Listen as she talks about growing up in Aurora, the daughter of a police officer, and why, from the time she was six, she had only one goal., to follow in her father’s footsteps.

Kristen discusses her career and the personal and professional challenges she faced, and how she worked through them. She also addresses the juxtaposition of being a woman, a police officer, and a leader and how she has had to judiciously deal with questions, comments, and biases, both pro and con, about women as leaders in a police environment. She speaks to character, competency and experience as the critical and defining attributes of an effective leader. 

To learn more about Kristen, go to her website: www.kristenziman.com where you can also access information about her podcast “The Hollow Bunny”, and her book “Re-Imagining Blue: Thoughts on Life, Leadership and a New Way Forward in Policing”

Community policing is both a policy and a strategy that requires buy-in and participation not only by the police department, but the community as well. It is never a “quick fix” but a long-term commitment that is built on mutual trust and respect, and that doesn’t happen overnight. Not an easy mission under any circumstances, but in higher education where the resident population turns over almost completely every four years, the challenges can be greater.

Listen and learn as Bill talks about his experiences as a police chief at a college in Boston and how collaborative efforts, both internal and external led to trust and relationship building that in turn provided a safer working and living environment for students, administrators, faculty and the residential and business communities bordering the school.

Our conversation with Terry Cunningham continues with a discussion about the political motivation and movement to “defund the police”. He explains that with crime now at an all-time high, most of the defund arguments and proposals have had disastrous results with high homicide rates and the physical and financial destruction of many cities. In their place, new anti-police schemes have risen. “Demoralize the police” is their newest campaign, delivering mistruths on both social and mainstream media outlets. The consequences are not only affecting recruitment and retention, but the overall mental wellness of police officers and their families.

Regarding the need or desire for greater diversity in policing, we talk about the difficulties in recruiting potential candidates in communities where the residents have been led to believe that the police are their enemy. 

Cunningham speaks to the problems that result when a community lowers basic entry level requirements as a recruitment tool. 

We discuss the philosophy of community policing and the need for all stakeholders to come together and work as one to not only solve crime issues, but to create safer environments for all.

The IACP is the primary organization representing police leaders throughout the world. With more than 33,000 members in 173 countries, it is the advocate and the voice for police chiefs throughout the United States and the world. As the Deputy Director, Terry Cunningham is a primary diplomat, educator, and negotiator for the Association with both the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government. I could think of no better or more informed guest to begin our series of podcasts about law enforcement and related topics. In the first segment of this two-part interview, we discuss the current state of policing in the United States. With national polls indicating that both police morale and public trust have eroded to all-time lows, the ability to recruit and retain officers is now at a critical stage. How do we go about righting the ship and move forward? Moreover, the seemingly endless mantra for national police reform has resulted in legislative initiatives currently before Congress and state legislatures. While some concerns deserve our attention, many proposals are far-fetched, and if passed, would be potentially harmful to both the police and the people we are sworn to protect. Listen as Terry explains the efforts of his organization to set the record straight based on truths and not the fallacies to the arguments. It is an uphill battle but worth every inch of the fight.