I'd like to speak about the City of Newark,
the Newark Police Department, and the dramatic changes that have
taken place during the past five years. We set out to change old
perceptions about our city and our police department and create a
new reality.
I
would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to thank the
Mayor of the City of Newark, the Honorable Sharpe James, for the
support he has provided to a Police Director committed to change.
Mayor James's unwavering support in the face of the controversies
and opposition created by the concept and reality of change should
serve as a model for other political leaders--as well as being the
envy of any police leader embarking on the road of undertaking
significant, sustainable change within an organization.
Finally, I would like to thank the men and
women of the Newark Police Department who, through their blood,
sweat, and tears at those times of the day and night when no one
was watching, overcame old, negative perceptions about a great city
by creating a new reality and a sense of anticipation and hope in a
much safer city.
THE
GREAT PARADOX
"A
professional police officer must face the great paradox of
humanity, accepting the fact that man will never find true justice
on this earth because his fallibility makes him incapable of it,
yet, because of the dignity of man, he must strive for it as though
it were actually attainable." These words, taken from a book whose
title I can't recall, have been very important to me over my
32-year career.
As a
young police officer trying to learn about his profession, I read
these words and wrote them down on a bookmark I used when studying
for promotional exams. As a police officer, these words clarified
the need to continue to strive and overcome the cynicism created by
the harsh realities of police work. Later, as a leader, these words
crystallized the idea that the individual officer and, in turn, a
focused and committed police department could serve as one of the
most important catalysts for positive change in a community.
The
idea has special relevance in the City of Newark, a city which
after the riots of 1967 was defined in terms of its crime rate. In
most older, eastern urban areas, city governments were measured by
the performance of the most visible arm of government--the police.
Newark was no different. Hence, the idea that striving to attain
could in fact make a difference and change how our city was defined
was very evident to me throughout my career.
In
recognition of the importance of the police in a city like Newark,
and in recognition of the idea of continuing to strive in the face
of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the Newark Police Department
instituted an organizational slogan to focus our efforts during the
past five years. We believe that "the sin is not to fail...the sin
is not to try" to make a difference. I would like to tell you our
story.
RECENT HISTORY: WHERE WE WERE
In
order to establish some historical perspective on the programs and
strategies we have undertaken, it is important to reflect on issues
confronting the Newark Police Department in 1995. Where were
we?
In
1995, the Newark Police Department suffered from poor police
response and the citizen dissatisfaction that comes from it. The
problem was historic and systemic in that, for 30 years, the
citizens complained about response time and the police--all of
us--made excuses as to why we came late or not at all. Response
time was measured in hours and days, not minutes and seconds.
Police dispatchers when broadcasting assignments, particularly for
property crimes like auto theft and burglary, would tell the
officers the assignments "had a lot of dust on them," meaning the
assignment was from the previous tour or day.
The
department also failed to come when called: 28,000 times in 1995,
the police did not respond to a confirmed service call. The issue
was further exacerbated by patrol officers self-imposing standards
on how long to hold assignments. For example, report assignments
would take 45 minutes, accident reports at least 60 minutes, and
assignments with vehicle tows or injuries would be held for several
hours. The greatest criticism from citizens was, "The police do not
care; they don't come when we call."
In
1995, our crime rate increased 8 percent while the rest of the
country experienced reductions. Certainly in terms of crime, Newark
was headed in the wrong direction. In 1989, after having 16,000
vehicles--about one for every 15 adults in our city--stolen, we
were declared "the auto theft capital of the world." We had to live
with that dubious distinction for a long time.
We
had many other issues, and all of them combined led to a referendum
by Newark's voters in the latter part of 1995 where they indicated
overwhelmingly--two to one--that they had no confidence in their
police department. They had no confidence we could deliver public
safety services efficiently or effectively. That's where we were in
1995.
Climate Prior to Appointment
In 1996, prior to my appointment in July of that year, things
had gotten worse. Upon being named Police Director, I faced
significant political, media, and internal opposition.
There were a lot of people who didn't want
to see things change in the Newark Police Department. In the
confirmation vote before the City Council, I only received the bare
minimum of five of the nine votes. There was substantial opposition
within the organization. The organization had many fiefdoms, many
cores of power, many people that had no interest in realizing
significant change.
We
had corruption probes. Every Thursday we used to watch the
commanders and police officers walk over to the Federal Building
for grand jury. My predecessor went to jail. We had officers, about
25 of them, who were still working while they were indicted or
under arrest. We had less than 50 percent of our police officers
out on patrol. Almost half of our officers were detectives.
Clearly, the department had lost its way.
When I went to speak to the community after my confirmation, I
asked for their input and support. I discussed our plans, and the
reply in every neighborhood was, "We've heard it before; we want
results!"
RECENT HISTORY: WHERE WE ARE NOW
Where are we today? Today, we've
experienced a 51 percent reduction in crime since 1995. We reduced
violent crime by over 61 percent and non-violent crime by 46
percent during this time. We have adopted a new management
philosophy which focuses on achieving results, not merely
controlling activity. We have adopted new management practices that
work toward those things. We have realized public confidence in the
police department. We have realized public confidence in the City
of Newark.
We
are finally in the midst of the renaissance we've talked about for
20 years. That renaissance has been established in a number of
ways.
- By the fact that we have the New Jersey
Performing Arts Center that is the symbol of the renaissance. Prior
to its construction, the fundamental questions were "Will it be
safe? Will people come?" Over 600,000 people have attended events
every year, without incident, since 1997.
- By the fact that we have a new baseball
stadium for our minor league baseball team, the Newark Bears.
- By the fact that significant redevelopment
is taking place: new homes, new office towers, booming real
estate.
- By the fact that we are declared as the
future home of the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils in a
new arena to be built in downtown Newark.
- By the fact that the 2000 census showed
that Newark is no longer losing population.
- By the fact that developers have begun to
build market-rate housing in Newark for the first time since World
War II.
- By the fact that Newark was named one of
the Six Safer Cities in America for the year 2000 by the National
Crime Prevention Council.
That's where we were; this is where we are
now. And the question is: What was the difference, and how did we
get there?
A NEW DIRECTION: THE 100-DAY PLAN
The
issues confronting the police department and the city required
immediate and dramatic action. For over one year, the department
operated without effective leadership or a plan to address all the
legitimate issues raised by every level of our community.
Upon
being nominated for the position of Police Director on June 25,
1996, I gathered my staff together and set out to develop a plan of
immediate action, as well as a plan to serve as the foundation for
what I had promised myself: that if given the opportunity, I would
significantly change the way we did business. The plan, which was
designed to achieve announced goals within 100 days, was to be
presented on July 2, seven days later. The 100-Day Plan, as it came
to be known, was created in less than one week, but it had been in
the making within my mind for 27 years.
The
100-Day Plan had inherent risks. It set timetables to attack the
biggest, most unresolved issues facing the agency for 30
years--response time and the idea that the criminals controlled
every street corner.
The
risk of failure never entered our minds. Those words I had written
down many years before echoed in my mind: Now was the time to
strive to attain what appeared to be unattainable. We presented the
plan on July 2. It created a sense of urgency; it created anxiety
amongst those who were to implement it; it drove us to overcome old
ideas of not accepting responsibility for crime and modifying
criminal behavior.
In
short, it was exactly what we needed.
The
main ingredient of the 100-Day Plan was the Patrol Emphasis
Program. The concept was simple and fundamental: Recognize that the
men and women of the patrol force were our most important resource
and empower the commanders to utilize them to suit their needs.
Almost immediately, we placed 70 percent of the police department
in uniform, on patrol. In one month, we placed an additional 150
officers into uniforms as well as 40 supervisors. We found people
behind desks, in investigative assignments; we even found a few
hiding in closets. With additional resources in the most important
aspect of our business, we set out to attack our two long-standing
issues: response time and street-level drug dealing.
Response Time: The Coin of the Realm.
As I
indicated earlier, poor police response was rooted in our
organizational culture. Upon becoming Police Director, we still had
200 to 300 assignments waiting to be answered in our assignment
queue during the busiest periods.
To
highlight the issue, I identified response time as the "coin of the
realm." It would define how we were measured by the community and
how we would measure ourselves. I was aware that there had been
several studies regarding response time, particularly the Police
Foundation report by a couple of old friends, George Kelling and
Tony Pate; but although the report suggested that "Response time is
not always a strong, direct determinant of citizen satisfaction," I
believed this wasn't the case in Newark. In our city, poor response
and the fact that we did not come at all 28,000 times a year were
the first signs to the people that we didn't care.
The
average citizen very seldom calls the police for service in their
lifetime, usually only during a critical negative event in their
lives. If the police come very late or not at all, they have no
chance of making a difference, particularly a positive difference.
Certainly, in the case of Newark, these signals had been sent out
loud and clear for over 30 years.
We
addressed response time in many ways.
- The Patrol Emphasis Program placed
adequate resources in a position to address the workload.
- A response matrix was devised to
identify the type and level of response for every call, to realize
cost-effective police service.
- We established and monitored response
time goals that differentiated between priorities for violent
and non-violent crime.
- We employed differential response
for specific requests for service.
- But most importantly, the department's
leadership was held directly accountable for achieving those
goals.
Some
of our leaders believed that our goals were unrealistic and were
too demanding. One commander, the head of Communications, advised
me at a command meeting that our goals were "unrealistic." I
replaced him at that meeting with someone who believed differently,
and within 30 days we solved a problem that had existed for 30
years.
- In 1996, we averaged 116 minutes, almost
two hours, to respond to a robbery or burglary report; today, we
average 13 minutes.
- In 1996, we averaged 14 minutes for an
in-progress violent crime; today, we average 72 seconds.
- In 1996, we did not respond to 28,000
calls; today, and since 1997, we have zero unanswered calls.
The
problem was resolved, the change was noticed almost immediately,
and the tenor of community meetings changed dramatically. Even
today we rarely, if ever, receive a citizen complaint about
response time.
Quality of Life: "Drugs Drive Crime."
The
other major problem confronting us was the quality of life in our
city. In Newark, the community and the police understood that
open-air drug sales fostered a climate of crime and disorder. How
could you be safe if drug dealing was openly taking place on your
corner?
Moreover, the police did not respond to or
initiate the enforcement of prostitution, noise, panhandling,
abandoned vehicle complaints, moving or parking violations, or a
host of other quality-of-life issues. Citizens asked, "Why can't
our police enforce the law like they do in the surrounding suburban
towns?"
We
addressed the issue in several ways.
- We established and identified these types
of complaints as Quality of Life codes in our Computer Aided
Dispatch system so we could now measure the level and location of
these complaints throughout our city.
- We established Quality of Life Task Forces
in each of the four police districts. One-third of the patrol force
was set aside in each command to initiate actions against these
complaints.
- Commanders were held accountable and
measured by the elimination of complaints.
- We adopted a slogan, "Drugs Drives Crime,"
in recognition that drugs accounted for the vast majority of crimes
in our city.
As a
result of these actions, arrests increased from 24,000 per year to
34,000 per year; drug arrests constituted one-third of all our
arrests; and most importantly, crime fell 14 percent by the end of
1996.
The
100-Day Plan had many other components, including:
- The development of a mission
statement;
- Amendments to the rules and regulations to
facilitate accountability by holding managers accountable
for the performance of their employees, not merely for their own
conduct;
- The institution of integrity
policies; and
- The implementation of an assignment
policy to focus upon opportunities for advancement and
advantages for patrol-oriented officers.
These changes were announced at a town
hall meeting for all police officers. We had over 800 police
officers in a college auditorium, and for over two hours I told
them, from my lips directly to their ears, what the community
expected from them, what I expected from them, what was going to
change, and how important they were in the whole equation because
we believed that the police officer was and is the catalyst for
positive change in our community.
CHANGING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: HIGH
PERFORMANCE AND HIGH INTEGRITY
Upon
completion of the 100-Day Plan, we had established the foundation
to begin the process of instituting significant, sustainable change
within the organization. In early 1997, we began the process of
converting our department into a high-performance, high-integrity
organization.
- We needed to change the way we
traditionally conducted our business.
- We needed to challenge our officers to
"think outside the box."
- We needed to problem-solve, not merely
react to demands.
- We needed to manage toward results, not
manage and report activity. In the past, much like other police
departments, our managers looked at their statistics to tell them
if they were doing well or not: Was overtime down or arrests
up?
In
order to realize high performance and integrity, we had to change
the culture of the organization. Now, I'm not going to fool you by
telling you that we managed to change the culture. This is a battle
that we're still fighting: We're still trying to make them think
outside that box. We're still trying to get them to think and deal
with people outside of the agency to solve problems and, in effect,
change the way we do business.
We
have adopted the Comstat model as a management process to ensure we
have coordination within the agency, to ensure we look for partners
outside the agency, and problem-solve both crime and organizational
problems. Currently, the Comstat process is used for a variety of
organizational purposes. We have Internal Affairs Comstat,
Personnel Comstat, and Department Comstat, which drills down into
every performance measure to assess the state of individual
commands.
Comstat: Holding Commanders
Accountable
I'll
tell you a little story on why we needed Comstat. At my first
meeting as the new Police Director, I had all my bureau commanders,
my three-star chiefs, come to the meeting. During this first
command staff meeting, I asked a series of questions that confirmed
change was necessary.
- The first question I asked was about crime
in our city. No one could offer any information about crime.
- Next, I asked about the clearance rates
for crime: Were we effective in solving crime? I was told they
would have to get back to me with the information.
- I questioned them about quality-of-life
issues and about how we could attack quality-of-life crime in our
city. No one had any suggestions.
- Last but not least, I asked who were the
problem officers, the officers engaging in aberrant behavior and
doing the kinds of things that didn't engender community support
but actually eroded support for the agency. No one was prepared to
discuss that either.
Something had to change. It was the
culture: They represented that culture. So we employed the concept
of accountability and Comstat to begin changing that culture.
One
of the things we did was to reorganize the agency. You recall the
deputy chiefs, the three-stars, who were not aware of the business
of the police department? I would like to share a related story
that signified the need for change. This is a story about
"mailboxes."
A
series of management retreats were held, and the question arose as
to whether certain levels of the organization needed to continue to
exist or not. My staff insisted that every level or position was
needed. So I posed a question: "If I took that command or that
officer and I eliminated him, his staff, his chauffeur, all the
people that are in that office, how would it significantly change
my life?"
What
we started finding out is, there were a lot of command positions
that were merely "mailboxes." The paperwork came up through them,
and they stamped it and sent it on to us with no decisions being
made, no opinion being rendered, and no risk being taken. It made
it very clear to me that change had to happen. So we eliminated
almost one entire level of management--and it didn't significantly
change my life.
A New Vision For Management
We
also took the opportunity to create a management team. We created
the positions of Deputy Director for Professional Responsibility
and Deputy Director for Information and Technology. We created a
Special Assistant for Community Affairs. We brought in a civilian
to head up crime analysis. We brought in civilians to help us with
technology and management information services.
In
effect, we tried to make the department responsive and make it
reflect the dynamics of our environment. We wanted talent,
diversity, and commitment throughout our organization. But most of
all, we wanted people who operated as a team in concert with one
another and with the philosophy we had adopted.
In
terms of creating a high-integrity organization worthy of the
support of its community, we found it necessary to take a stance
very early on. On my very first day, we had a captain and a
lieutenant who were indicted. The captain was a classmate of mine,
a friend of 27 years.
Historically, the department did not
suspend officers who were indicted, but kept them on the payroll.
We had about 25 to 30 officers who fit that description: people who
were under a cloud of suspicion. I felt very strongly that the
policy should change. Nevertheless, I agonized over what to do. The
department and the community were waiting.
I
went home that night, and I thought about it, and I asked myself,
"What would I do if I didn't know the individual and he wasn't a
friend of mine?" And it became very clear: The interests of the
city and the department came first. I suspended that officer
because I had to set the tone for the rest of the agency. I had to
set the tone that certain types of behavior could not be condoned
whether or not it was a friend. My first decision as Police
Director cost me a friend. I was right then, and I still believe I
am right today.
Working Against Dishonesty
We
instituted a professional Standards Unit. We adopted an Internal
Affairs Comstat. We instituted Professional Standards. We engaged
in integrity and compliance testing. And not only did we do all of
those things, but we also developed remedial programs. What do you
do with officers who have a lot of demeanor complaints? Do you
discipline them? Or do you give them the opportunity to find a way
not to be the subject of a demeanor complaint? We instituted
programs such as Client Relations training and Verbal Judo. Through
technology pioneered by the Police Foundation, we utilize the Risk
Analysis Management System, or RAMS, to monitor complaints against
officers and officer performance. Through these reforms, we are
going to give every officer the opportunity to modify their
behavior and attitudes.
I'll
just tell you one story very quickly about why police leadership
must address the negative aspects of the police culture if we are
to truly engender the support of our community. We had a situation
wherein a police sergeant led a group of officers who engaged in a
vicious assault of a prisoner in one of our police districts. The
"Blue Wall of Silence" went up: No one would talk.
We
undertook a strategy of treating the officers who witnessed the
incident, and who took no action or declined to cooperate, in the
same manner as the officers who engaged in the beating. We
suspended all nine officers. There was a lot of opposition to that
decision, but our belief was and still is that the officers who
were silent were perhaps more dangerous than the officer who
actually engaged in the beating, if that is possible. The officers
engaged in aberrant behavior would not engage in that conduct if
they were not guaranteed the silence of the good and decent
cop.
Clearly, a culture which protects
individual officers engaged in misbehavior must be changed. The
battle continues. We have to become an open department that is
responsive and committed to the idea that we are going to enforce
the law and do it lawfully with the support of our community.
A NEW DIRECTION: MANAGING POLICE SERVICES
FOR THE FUTURE
During the struggle to institute a new
organizational culture, it became apparent that the police
department needed a vehicle to set out its strategic goals and
objectives. In late 1998, therefore, the Newark Police Department
introduced a Business Plan to communicate our announced objectives
for a three-year period: 1999 through 2001.
The
plan, which identified five major challenges facing our city and
police department in the new millennium, was designed to set forth
a series of interrelated plans--70 action plans in all--to build
upon our past successes. Most importantly, the plan also
communicated our organizational intentions in terms of exactly what
we were trying to achieve, why it was necessary for us and our
city, and who we needed to work with to accomplish our goals.
The
Business Plan, which highlights the importance of communications
and collaboration among criminal justice agencies and a broad range
of groups that comprise the term "community," has been an excellent
device to focus the operations of the department upon the needs and
the vision of the City of Newark. The five challenges--or, as we
now refer to them, opportunities for growth and change--that have
helped us do this are as follows:
- Building Organizational
Capacity,
- Building Community Capacity via
Partnerships,
- Accommodating the Demands of a
Changing Newark,
- Managing External Influences,
and
- Maintaining and Improving Public
Safety Services.
Briefly, I would like to review several of
these areas to highlight some of the plan's most important features
as we manage our way into a new millennium.
The
first challenge, Building Organizational Capacity, was
identified in an effort to maximize our organizational assets by
leveraging our investment in a high-performance, results-oriented
management process. The two major aspects of building the capacity
of the police in the future are the development of technology and
the development of people within the organization.
In
terms of technology, the Newark Police Department has made major
investments in a new map-driven Computer Aided Dispatch System and
computerized Records Management System designed to transmit timely
and accurate information down to the level of execution--the patrol
officer. We have developed a concept called Mobile Desk to provide
every officer with a wide array of information and with the
opportunity to make informed decisions in the field. In effect, the
Mobile Desk will make every patrol vehicle an office on wheels.
However, in adopting a management process
that provides information and mandates accountability, management
must be prepared to address the flip side of the empowerment
equation: We cannot empower a manager or officer to make decisions,
or to problem-solve, unless we provide them with the skills and
abilities to act on that power. We cannot expect our present
managers or future leaders to "think outside the box" if we have
not prepared--and, yes, even challenged them--to engage in creative
management practices.
Toward this end, a Leadership Center was
instituted within the framework of our In-Service training program
for all junior and senior managers. The Center involves internal
and external development courses with universities such as Rutgers,
Penn State, and Harvard, the Police Executive Research Forum, and
others. While still in its infancy, we believe it has great
promise.
The
second challenge, Building Community Capacity via
Partnerships, was developed in recognition of the fact that the
task of crime-fighting--and, more importantly, crime
prevention--requires the involvement of the community as defined in
its broadest terms. We sought to identify what community assets
existed to leverage our efforts in taking crime reduction beyond 51
percent.
At
the time of the plan, no relationships existed with our clergy,
other criminal justice agencies, community-based organizations, or
the corporate community. Some of the most noteworthy programs
include the following:
- The Police-Clergy Alliance involves
the identification and utilization of the assets of the more than
380 churches within our city. The Alliance also includes the
Clergy-Citizen Academy, which has had over 180 graduates in the
past two years, as an important ingredient in bringing together the
moral and legal authority of the city--the clergy and police--in a
positive way.
- The Safe City Initiative is a
comprehensive, collaborative program instituted after two years of
planning by Rutgers University and George Kelling. As I have
indicated before, no meaningful relationships existed with other
criminal justice agencies at any level. Upon enlisting the
assistance of Rutgers and George Kelling, we were able to establish
an alliance of federal, state, and local law enforcement, the
courts, probation, parole, our clergy, social services providers,
and corporate partners to focus upon the most violent people in our
community in an effort to reduce violence and victimization. The
assistance of Rutgers allowed a group of agencies to come together
for the first time and to minimize traditional "turf" battles and
focus upon a common endeavor. While the initiative is new, it is an
exciting development for our agency, and we believe it will serve
as a template for the type of problem-solving approach that is
needed by law enforcement in the future.
The
third challenge, Accommodating the Demands of a Changing
Newark, seeks to anticipate, not react to, the changing
environment that is our city. In forecasting changes expected
within our community, we can anticipate future demands upon the
organization and its processes. We also can accommodate and
facilitate the changes occurring within Newark in terms of
redevelopment, housing, education, service demands, and
culture.
Recently, in response to anticipated
changes within our business district, the department instituted a
new command, the Metro District. The new command, with needs that
are different from those experienced in our neighborhoods, is
designed to deal with the demands of people coming to Newark as a
destination rather than leaving Newark to travel home after
work.
The
fourth challenge, Managing External Influences, is our
effort to anticipate the demands which federal, state, and county
policies might place on our ability to deliver police services.
When the state passed Megan's Law, which required us to inform the
community about sex offenders, we had a plan to notify Newark's
population in place as soon as we needed it. When new domestic
violence laws went on the books, we were ready then, too. We even
look at the external influences in our own county; we're currently
in the midst of trying to plan for a new Essex County correctional
facility.
The
final challenge, Maintaining and Improving Public Safety
Services, is the capstone of our Business Plan. The action
plans within this challenge focus upon improving service delivery
and finding new ways to improve upon our ultimate aim--crime
prevention.
Currently, the department has undertaken a
pilot program to institutionalize community policing within our
agency. This Geographic Accountability Program (GAP) is designed to
bridge any gaps that may exist between the community and its
police. While the department is already decentralized, the GAP
focuses empowerment, accountability, and community "ownership" into
smaller areas. Lieutenants and sergeants having "command" of their
respective areas are charged with the responsibility of community
interaction and problem-solving at that level. Services such as
community affairs, quality-of-life enforcement, investigations,
liaison with city agencies, liaison with probation and parole are
arrayed together, within a smaller geographic area, by officers
working the same shift under the command of a sector supervisor.
The officers are expected to interact and identify community assets
and partnerships within their area of responsibility.
The
pilot project, modeled on programs observed in Baltimore and
Washington, D.C., is scheduled to be expanded into a second
district this year. The success of the program--which upon
expansion will manifest true, institutionalized community
policing--is linked to our efforts to change the organizational
culture and our efforts to maximize information technology, and is
contingent on our ability to train our people to problem-solve with
their respective communities.
A NEW DIRECTION: REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS
LEARNED
In
looking back and reflecting upon what has taken place in our city,
we can see that there have been several chapters in our unfolding
story.
- The 100-Day Plan conveyed the need
to achieve immediate results and engender community support in a
climate of controversy. The most significant reflection underscores
the importance of police response and how an agency can transmit a
powerful signal to its citizens if it fails to respond to their
cries for help or, if they come so late, how they can render a
force for good powerless and virtually demoralize a police agency.
The 100-Day Plan signified the power of an organizational will to
achieve what was previously believed to be unattainable and
demonstrated that focused leadership always makes a
difference.
- Changing the Organizational Culture
represents the most challenging aspect of the new direction. The
process of creating a high-performance organization which embraces
integrity and community values and welcomes the active
participation of a wide range of collaborative partners continues
to represent our greatest internal struggle. The gains made in
effecting sustainable change in the way the police department does
its business have been made at a price: union strife, personal
attacks, and other problems. However, it is a price we would pay
again. So much has been gained and is expected to be gained from
creating a culture that views obstacles as opportunities.
- Managing Police Services for the
Future is the most recent chapter in our story and demonstrates
the importance of establishing a Business Plan that sets forth a
series of interrelated, mutually dependent plans to build on past
accomplishments and chart a course for future success.
In
closing our story, it is important that we recognize that the new
reality of a safer, more vibrant, and promising community was not
solely the product of the efforts of the Newark Police Department.
It has taken and shall continue to require the vision of a
forward-thinking mayor and the energies and commitment of people in
our neighborhoods, classrooms, and boardrooms to take advantage of
an environment conducive to prosperity at every level of the
community: an environment of safety created by a police force
committed to modifying criminal behavior and supporting the
activities of law-abiding citizens.
The
future story of our new direction will be told in terms of the
police as part of government, not apart from government, working
together with other city agencies and community partners to deliver
a commanding array of services and realize the promise of
community-based government. In Newark, the paradox of humanity, in
never finding true justice coupled with man's need to strive to
attain it as though it were attainable, will continue because we in
the Newark Police Department still believe that "the sin is not to
fail...the sin is not to try."
Joseph J. Santiago is
Police Director in Newark, New Jersey.