One of the worst times to start building a relationship between the police and the community is when something has already gone wrong. Emotions are high, people want answers, and we’re expected to make decisions while everyone is trying to figure out whether they can trust each other. I don’t expect everybody in town to…
I don’t expect everybody in my small town to agree with me, and I’d probably be a little suspicious if they did. I’m more interested in what happens after we disagree. In a place this size, the person who thinks I made a terrible decision today may be standing beside me at the store tomorrow….
When somebody really needs the police, there’s a good chance they’re already having a bad day. They may be scared, angry, confused, or worried about somebody they care about. That’s a terrible time for me to discover that the first relationship we’re trying to build with them is happening in the middle of a crisis….