>Back to Main Page

By Adam Holdorf, Real Change News

With mayor Paul Schell about to select a new Seattle Police chief, ink drying on a new contract between the mayor and the Police Guild, and debate simmering over racial profiling and the death of David John Walker, thereÕs no better time to talk to Ed Reed, whoÕs spent more than ten years watching the Seattle Police Department.

Reed is the author of the book The Politics of Community Policing: the Case of Seattle, published by Garland Publishers in 1999. The file cabinets in his office, where he works as an aide to county councilmember Larry Gossett, are stacked with books on police ethics and social policy; part of his job is to pore over such books for Gossett. He spoke to Real Change just after Schell had released the names of the final candidates.

Real Change: Out of the three finalists to replace police chief Norm Stamper, who do you think the mayor will choose?

Reed: As of today, IÕm thinking the person thatÕs going to win the job is William McManus, out of D.C. He did a pretty good job of managing the IMF demonstrators. This is a big-city assistant chief; his background, coming up through the ranks, will sell well with the Police Guild here in Seattle. He was on a violent crime and gang task force and the like; I just think it will sell well here in Seattle.

Regarding Richard Williams [from Madison, Wisconsin], I donÕt think weÕre ready for an African American police chief. I donÕt think the Police Guild will have it. They wonÕt come out and say publicly, ÒWe donÕt want a black police chief,Ó but by the mere example that we probably had the opportunity before Stamper to bring in a black police chief and we didnÕt, why would we do so in 2000? I donÕt think Seattle is ready for that either.

This other guy, Gil Kerlikowske, is from the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing, but Seattle has no problem pulling down federal money already. McManus will sell well. HeÕs the strongest candidate.

RC: How does community policing work?

Reed: In Seattle, it was and is highly symbolic and highly political. Only about 50 officers of 1200 are actually involved in CP. On average five to ten officers per precinct are involved in these community policing teams. We have one specialty unit that does community policing.

But ideally, community policing involves training from top to bottom; it involves a value change. The most important thing is that youÕre not just chasing 911 calls. You establish meaningful relationships with people. ItÕs more than just public relations.

Stamper made some changes in this traditional bureaucratic structure that was really top-down, a pyramid. He came in and flattened the organization a bit. The idea was to make it user-friendly. But he was out trying to do it by himself. He needed a squad of 500 to say weÕre all into this, we want to establish those community advisory groups, we want to establish these relationships.

Here, there was a small community group with a vested interest in getting this community policing thing going. And the department wanted to be perceived as doing something about crime. It made the neighborhood group look good, it made the police department look good. They both got something out of it. ItÕs how you survive Ñ you pleasing me and me pleasing you.

RC: Is it anything like the federal anti-crime program Weed and Seed?

Reed: Community policing is a bridge to Weed and Seed Ñ weeding out the criminal element, seeding in the community-based organizations. What happened [when Weed and Seed was proposed] is that Seattle, unlike 35 or 40 other cities where Weed and Seed took hold, resisted it for nine months. Because people got ahold of it and said ÒWoah, we donÕt need this, we want good law enforcement.Ó

RC: Do you see a growing civil rights movement in this city?

Reed: ThereÕs a lot of controversy about police profiling, pulling someone over for driving while black. I think Seattle is one of the places where we are seeing an emerging movement. The [shooting of David John Walker] has shown that we need more mental health training; the person that did the shooting was not trained in mental health. Cops are human, they can slip, they can get scared, they can overreact Ñ thatÕs what happened in the Walker case. No matter what [officer] Tommie Doran says, he overreacted. There was nothing in the guyÕs left hand, and the knife was not a threat to anybody. The guy was really reaching out for help.

I think the key thing to understand about community policing is it doesnÕt reach out to all social classes. Police canÕt solve all the social inequality. TheyÕre placed in a situation where theyÕre dealing with all these social contradictions, called upon to be social workers and role models. I understand why cops are frustrated by that, because they made a conscious decision to be cops.

RC: How do cops fall down on the job?

Reed: Cops can mistreat people. If IÕve got a job and a salary, paid to police people that arenÕt in my community, that are homeless and poor, how do I respond? Cops donÕt understand why a person with a PhD would be on the corner. And the people walking down the street say ÒOh, youÕre a scumbag!Ó Well, thatÕs somebodyÕs mother, or father, or a person that needs help. They need a civil society to reach out a hand, not to kick them on the sidewalk.

source: http://www.realchangenews.org/pastarticles/interviews/law_and_order_ed_reed.html