OUR VIEW: What we learned from going Behind the Badge

It can be easy to take the services of our first responders for granted, but any community that cares about public safety should pay close attention to how those professionals are recruited, trained and supported.

“The challenges that face our profession are complex, multifaceted, and well documented,” Dayton Police Chief Afzal wrote in another op-ed. “Police departments, such as ours, are understaffed and recruiting new officers is as difficult as it’s ever been.”

A Dayton Daily News analysis in December found the Dayton police department started 2023 with the lowest staffing level in years, and that was before more than 50 officers retired or resigned. Dayton has its own police academy, and more than half of the most recent class dropped out before graduation in November.

Understaffed law enforcement puts a strain on the remaining officers who are already facing a mentally strenuous, stressful job. That strain can lead to a less responsive police force that struggles to meet the many public safety needs of our communities.

That’s why, six months ago, the Dayton Daily News launched the “Behind the Badge” series that chronicled a class of cadets from day one through graduation at Sinclair Police Academy and analyzed how their training fits into the larger context of the national debate over law enforcement.

Reporter London Bishop volunteered to undertake much of the training herself to better understand exactly what it’s like for a new recruit. She trained alongside the cadets, woke up early for physical training and even took a shot of pepper spray to the face.

The six-month investigation examined how police are trained, analyzed use of force trends, how police and society handle people with mental illness, and much more.

There were dozens of takeaways from this extensive investigation that can help inform how our communities decide to train and support our police officers in the future. Beyond the laudable reforms approved in the May meeting of Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission — which sets standards for police academies statewide — and put forth by the Ohio Attorney General’s Blue Ribbon Task Force, this editorial board emphasizes two important aspects identified in the course of our investigation:

Public perception of police

While a national opinion poll from Gallup found that Americans’ confidence in the police increased eight percentage points over the past year to 51%, that figure is much lower for younger people and communities of color.

Not only does a negative public perception hurt the ability for departments to recruit from a diverse pool of candidates, but when someone is distrustful of police, they are more likely to resist arrest or not follow an officer’s orders. Data provided by Dayton police in the course of our investigation showed felony charges increased 19% from 2022 to 2023, resisting arrest charges increased 30% and failure to comply charges increased 13%.

“The increase in the number of resisting arrests and failure to comply incidents impacts the use of force incidents since these are situations where a suspect is attempting to elude arrest or resist the officer from taking them into custody,” according a statement provided with the Dayton Police data.

Dayton police reported 188 use of force incidents last year, up from 128 the year before, according to data the city reported to the Ohio Department of Public Safety. This represents a staggering 47% increase year-over-year.

This escalation can’t continue.

Hateful rhetoric about law enforcement, as witnessed four years ago when protesters hurled profanities at police officers in the wake of a Minneapolis police officer murdering George Floyd or a Dayton police cruiser spraypainted with “ACAB,” an acronym meaning “All cops are bastards,” only further inflame an already tense situation.

Likewise, racist and classist perceptions of the communities the police serve, as espoused in the debunked documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis” shown at the Sinclair Police Academy, distort cadets’ worldview by exposing them to a biased, factually inaccurate narrative of events.

Restoring trust in law enforcement institutions in marginalized communities is no small task, but it requires the combined efforts of meaningful police engagement within these communities, community leaders rising to the task of humanizing and collaborating with those working in law enforcement, and the media’s fair and equal treatment of all sides when an incident occurs.

Supplementary services

The roles and responsibilities we’ve placed on our police officers have become unreasonable for any professional. The profession has become a one-size-fits-all approach to every social ill, be it mental health crises, traffic enforcement, armed response and more. This approach is unsustainable for existing officers and a deterrent for those looking to enter the field, which is why it’s heartening to see the success of other programs designed to supplement the capabilities of law enforcement, such as Dayton’s Mediation Response Unit.

Launched in May 2022, the Dayton Mediation Response is a first-of-its-kind program in the United States that sends two-person teams of mediation specialists instead of police officers to certain kinds of calls for service.

The Mediation Response Unit responded to more than 3,200 calls last year that police officers in the past used to handle. The unit has seen a sizable increase in calls this year, which is helping reduce the burden on law enforcement while assisting community members so they can work through conflict.

This editorial board also joins Chief Afzal and City Commissioners in supporting a proposal to help launch a new program based on a violence interruption model used by Cure Violence Global.

According to officials, this model consists of hiring and deploying community members who have similar life experiences as those at the highest risk of committing violent acts.These staff members will receive training in mediation, persuasion and changing behaviors in an effort to mediate conflict and stop violence before it happens.

Beyond services such as the Mediation Response Unit and violence prevention models, we also need to address the broken systems with which our law enforcement regularly engage.

In July, we conducted an investigation into the “pink slip” process in Montgomery County and found that police routinely pink-slip people they believe to be a danger to themselves or others — under the impression those people will be committed and forced into treatment — but 96% of the time those people are released without mandated treatment.

“They oftentimes are back in our communities before the paperwork is done,” said Doug Jerome, president of the Montgomery County Association of Police Chiefs.

Fixing this deeply flawed system would both better serve those with mental health issues in our communities and reduce the burden on law enforcement.

Excellence is achievable

With the number of systemic issues identified, and the entrenched, polarized views of those on either side of the debate, the future of public safety and law enforcement might appear grim. However, we can’t lose sight of the importance of addressing these issues — and the incredible drive and resilience of the individuals committed to doing so.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned these last months, in both training alongside the 19 cadets and in writing about them, is that excellence is achievable,” London Bishop wrote in a concluding reflection on her six-month experience.

“Their stories are inspiring, from Fidele Ngabo who escaped genocide in Rwanda and now wants to serve the community, to Austen Brown who is following in his father’s footsteps, to Catie Wise, who not only put herself through the police academy, but worked 40 hours a week as a dispatcher while doing it.”

Chol Chol, the Sudanese refugee who attended Sinclair Police Academy, wrote that he was “ready to be firm, to be fair, to be nice and to be the one who runs toward the problem — because I know how it feels.”

We can’t afford to take our public safety for granted. We applaud the efforts of everyone who makes the courageous, selfless decision to run toward the problem. Our communities need you, now more than ever.