When crime reports indicate that crime is trending downward, it’s natural for community members to feel a sense of relief and security. However, when those reports do not square with the feeling of insecurity in the community, the police department must look closer at its image problem in the Black community, not pat itself on the back.
In Monroe, the population is 47,000 residents, but according to the police, the city has already experienced six murders inside the city limits, with three within one week and twice that many murder attempts in just four months. The public doesn’t know the difference between a parish murder and a city murder; we know something is wrong and are insulted when we are told that murders are trending down.
The statistics are alarming, and the police department needs to address the community’s concerns and not attempt to deny what people see with their own eyes.
Last week Police Chief Victor Zordan announced that morale in the department is high due to pay raises, new cars, and equipment. He ticked off six pages of internal changes he made to make officers feel good and improve their morale.
While these factors may improve officer morale, they do not necessarily result in crime reduction. In fact, it almost blames high crime on police officers who, before his changes, had low morale, no computers and old police cars, so they did little to stop crime. We know that’s not the case, but that was the tone of his statement.
Instead of focusing solely on crime apprehension, the police department should also prioritize crime prevention. This can be achieved through community policing, which involves building relationships with community members, identifying and addressing the root causes of crime, and working together to create safer neighborhoods.
The police department under Chief Zordan has a “trust” problem that lies at the root of its its poor reception.
Last week the chief said very few people will give information to the department. He said witnesses see a crime but won’t tell the police anything. That’s a serious trust factor.
The police department is using data-driven strategies, such as predictive policing, to identify high-risk areas and prevent crime before it occurs. This approach can help reduce crime rates and increase the feeling of security in the community, but it requires a community that sees the chief and his officers as friends.
Once, Monroe Police Department’s vehicles carried the universal motto “To protect and serve” on every vehicle. For the first time, this administration has removed that motto.
Our community doesn’t trust the police department and when we see drones patrolling areas above our homes, cameras tracking our license plate numbers, police stops and searches only in our community, we don’t feel “served” or “protected.” We don’t trust that we are not being targeted.
A meeting with community leaders, press, and activists to explain that drones and other data-gathering devices will not target the innocent (if that’s the case) would have gone a long way toward building trust. Instead, most in our community believe the MPD is spying on the Black community alone.
Last week when the police chief denied that there were three murder within in a five day period, it cast doubts on any other announcements the department makes. We attended their funerals; he didn’t. He doesn’t even live in our city.
It’s also important for the police to be transparent about crime rates and efforts to reduce crime. This can help build trust between the police and community members. A city of 47,000 should have an average of 4 murders a year. The fact that we’ve had six in four months doesn’t seem to indicate that murders are trending downward. He gave no statistics on what appears to be the upward trend of attempted murders and assaults.
While pay raises, new cars, and equipment may improve morale in the police department, they are not enough to reduce crime rates. Instead, the police department should prioritize preventive steps such as community policing and other data-driven strategies.
It should prioritize transparency, and building trust because they are essential to increase the feeling of security in the community. He simply can’t tell us that things are better because we pay police officers more. He must take the thousands of small steps necessary to build trust.
It can begin by restoring the slogan “To protect and serve” on its shiny new police cars.
As simple as that is, it probably won’t happen.
That breach in understanding is at the heart the police department’s image problem under Chief Zordan.
