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Column 010807 Brewer

Monday, January 8, 2007

Law Enforcement’s Intellectual Inertia

By Jerry Brewer

The role of law enforcement throughout the world

remains a profound mandate in the implacable
application and basic fundamentals of protecting life
and property. Public service is in fact the hallmark of
the common motto of “to protect and serve.”

Unfortunately there is not always a united front on a

common agenda. Law enforcement leaders should
never contradict their essential message, nor give the
slightest hint of intellectual disingenuousness by the
subordination of facts in support of political agendas.

There are many fine law enforcement administrators

throughout the United States who are consistently
proficient in their leadership and operating within their
resource allocations. Too, their organizations are
healthy and consistently maintain a high achievement
environment. Much of their continued success is
apparent in their performance indicators. Those include
excellent creative maneuvering in lieu of systems that
are static and waiting for every plan of action to drip
from the top hierarchical maze.

The FBI recently reported that violent crime increased

3.7 percent in 2006, from January to June, compared
with the first six months of 2005. This information
prompted the pseudo-elitists to blame and cite
explanations, from cutbacks in funding to local and
state law enforcement agencies, to accusations that the
government is spending too much on homeland security
and counterterrorism. Instead, their vociferous
recriminations are calling for more manpower and more
money for “traditional policing.”

The facts are that the slight increase in crime overall is

the lowest in more than 30 years according to Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales. Department of Justice
statistics show decreases in violent crime in some large
metropolitan areas.

Many critics are devoid of real answers and have

discarded their objectivity. Some law enforcement
leaders are philosophically bankrupt on issues that
require new strategic and proactive policing strategies
to interdict homeland security threats. Many are intent
on holding onto procedures and beliefs that have long
since been discredited.

Vagueness and vacillation in needs assessments and

perverting form over substance is indeed a current
major weakness with some top police leaders,
especially at the crossroads of the past, and adequately
understanding the metamorphosis of anti-terrorism
policing initiatives and the sophistication of a new and
deadly enemy. This enemy is more sophisticated,
better trained and, in many cases, an adversary trained
in special operations, paramilitary tactics and spy
tradecraft.

An interesting trend in the FBI’s recent semiannual

report showed a 2.6 percent decrease in overall
property crimes. Burglaries and theft combined for a
total 5 percent decrease. Traditionally, property crimes
lead as the single most prevalent crime and the lowest
in crime clearance.

The largest increase was in robbery with 12.8 percent.

Forcible rape, motor vehicle theft and arson showed
decreases. The crime increases have been attributed to
the illegal gun market, increased gang violence and the
number of police on the street. Also, an increase has
been noted in the number of males on the street
between the ages of 14 and 24.

Could some police leader’s intellectual inertia be an

ineffective battle plan, or a frustration on priorities
versus public opinion? The solution to most problems is
mere common sense. They must never contradict their
message, thus making their message clear, united, and
consistent. The core mission of the police organization,
which is protecting life and property, has not changed,
albeit some incorrectly assume so.
Another tacit fact is the majority of law enforcement
agencies throughout the Americas are operating within
tight financial constraints and within a cutback financial
environment. They are essentially told to do more with
less.

So what are the answers?

Contrary to much belief, proposed tax cuts nationwide

are not responsible for exploding debt — spending is.
Billions of dollars of proposed spending on the Mexican
border fence to stop illegal entry could be much better
spent on strategic and proactive policing. Although the
United States is about 5 percent of the world’s
population, we consume 80 percent of the world’s
supply of cocaine, and the guns, violence, murder,
robberies and gangs along with it. Porous fences are
no match for the real problem.

Police leaders must be flexible, creative and balance

their deficiencies with the strength of their human
resources allocated. It is not always how many people
you have, but what those allocated people actually do
that matters. Power schedules for overlapping
personnel, and redirecting and regrouping of similar
functions to add more officers to enforcement roles
work tremendously. There are many flexible options —
and hopefully more and more innovative and dedicated
law enforcement leaders to implement what is needed.

——————————
Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice
International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm
headquartered in Miami, Florida, is a guest columnist with
MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at
Cjiaincusa@aol.com, and jbrewer@cjiausa.org..