BY TONY BOUZA
It’s 3 a.m. and a black motorist, slightly tipsy, is pulled over by a white cop. The driver is obstreperous. This is a challenge to the officer’s manhood. The cop wants to meet the challenge to his authority: “The asshole needs a lesson.” That is the usual scenario.
How to control the cop’s behavior such that he observes the need for articulable grounds and probable cause while using only the legal forces required to secure his prisoner?
As Hamlet put it, “That is the question.”
But there is an answer.
What if the motorist has access to grievance machinery that actually produces a relevant response? It can be done. The Chief is the key.
First, the Chief must live within the city limits—a surprising rarity. I did and do.
The access must be assured. For nine years my name and phone number were in the book. My calls were not screened. Any visitor could wander into my office, unquestioned and unannounced. No gate-keepers. No insulators. No screeners.
Usually, I’d ask if the caller had attempted to contact the precinct commander—who would know I expected him or her to be equally accessible—or be replaced.
I’d escort the visitor to Internal Affairs and always personally review the results of the investigation.
No press officer to massage media. An open system for journalists too. That’s how the people get their information.
Readers will blanch.
Isn’t this intolerably burdensome?
Actually it isn’t.
I always thought I was in control of my time and used it. The people were not burdensome. I always had time to do other essential business. Two or three times a year I’d take my home phone off the hook as some drunken oaf prattled on. Cops several times flooded my home when I’d done something—like name tags, one-person patrols, etc.—that outraged them. We coped!
Chiefs love their comforts, their insulation, their perks, but “The good of the people is the chief law.” (Cicero) Try another line of work if you find this inconvenient.
The system must be accessible and responsive—just as any properly managed enterprise. Comfort and convenience have little place in public life.
Risk it!
Open up!
Serve the people!
