Organizational Change in an Urban Police Department by Brenda J. Bond-Fortier

Author:Brenda J. Bond-Fortier [Bond-Fortier, Brenda J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367530907
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

The Evolution of Partnerships and Collaboration in Lowell

Relationships between the LPD and the external community were complex and varied in the 1980s. Many in the community enjoyed a positive relationship with individual police officers, often rooted in personal relationships such as family, friendships, and/or professional affiliations. Individuals, groups, or businesses might also enjoy positive relationships with officers with whom they regularly interacted—e.g., neighborhood stores or establishments located on a particular officer’s beat, or route, might have regular positive interactions with this officer. When officers in these situations proactively engaged with the people they regularly encountered, they were essentially practicing early forms of community policing. However, these practices were based on individual officer inclinations, rather than a systematic agency-wide approach. We might assume, though we cannot say with certainty, that perceptions of the LPD based on the activities of these types of officers were positive.

There were also community members who had less than favorable views and experiences with the LPD. These negative views might be with the LPD more generally—such as someone who was not satisfied with the service they received when they needed to obtain a police report, or a crime victim whose case was not resolved to their liking—or they could pertain to negative experiences with specific officers, such as treatment by a particular officer during a traffic stop. In the absence of other, more positive experiences, negative perceptions with individual officers can easily be more widely attributed to the entire agency. What makes these points relevant to police-community relationships is that the value of these experiences in the eyes of the police shifted from one of less concern to the agency, historically, to being a high priority. With the adoption of community policing, police started giving far more attention to community perceptions of their work. In turn, more attention came in the mid to late 1990s vis-à-vis building and sustaining positive relationships with all members of the community, regardless of the nature of interaction. This was important to shifting the views of the police, and ultimately enhancing the legitimacy of the LPD.

Prior to the adoption of community policing in Lowell, external groups such as businesses, nonprofits, and local academic institutions, among others, were more or less disconnected from the police unless they were working directly with them in a traditional, reactive way. City and business leaders worked on issues and matters of importance to them; only if and when safety became an issue would they inquire with the police in siloed ways. For example, someone from the City might call the Police Chief to have something “dealt with” or to seek answers to specific questions. The police were not “at the table” as regular participants in community development planning efforts. It was only in law enforcement-related task forces with other agencies (e.g., Drug Enforcement Administration, or State Police) that the LPD formally partnered with external agencies.

It wasn’t until the early 1990s that this way of thinking began to shift. Chris Scott, an editor for the Lowell Sun, suggested

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