Portland’s police chief, responding to complaints about his officers’ interaction with drivers, wants a training vehicle
By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian
Portland, Oregon Police Chief Derrick Foxworth wants his training staff to produce a video to teach officers how to communicate professionally in routine traffic stops, because the most frequent complaints against his officers deal with rudeness and profanity.
“The majority of our complaints involve courtesy and conduct -- what we do and what we say,” Foxworth said. “If we can help reduce the number of complaints and increase citizen satisfaction, it will also be safer for officers.”
Training Capt. Mike Crebs is examining a video that the Chicago Police Department produced two years ago to improve officers’ communication skills in traffic stops. Crebs recently sought comment from members of the Chief’s Forum on how the video could be modified to fit Portland’s needs, and he received plenty of advice.
Some shared their own accounts, ever so hesitantly, of lessons learned from encounters they had with police when stopped.
The Chicago training video gives officers a structured, eight-step approach to traffic stops. It begins with officers addressing a motorist with “Good morning, sir” or “Good afternoon, ma’am,” then stating their name, the agency they work for and the reason for the stop.
Some members of the Portland forum urged Foxworth to make these three steps mandatory immediately, because many complaints involve officers refusing to provide their names or failing to tell why motorists were pulled over.
But when Robert King, president of the Portland Police Association, learned of the Chicago video being a possible model for Portland, he replied, “Oh, no.”
“I don’t think officers need a video to teach them how to interact with citizens on the street,” King said. “I think they do a good job now.”
Several current and retired Portland officers who sit on the forum and watched the video shared their concerns.
North Precinct Sgt. Kim Keist, Detective Carolyn Crawford and retired Portland Officer Preston Wong said local officers should not be bound to the Chicago-style, eight-step approach but given more discretion. Yet they agreed that training should emphasize courtesy.
Keist said communication skills training once played a more central role in the bureau but recently has taken a back seat.
“Courteous behavior has to be stressed in training, communication skills as a tactic,” Keist said. “It needs to be improved upon.”
“Professional does not mean timid” The Chicago video also tells officers that even if a driver is rude and disrespectful, they must remain professional. It reinforces this message by showing a stopped motorist immediately mouthing off to an officer, and the officer, in one scenario, cursing back with a tongue-lashing that escalated the problem. In the next scenario, the officer lets the motorist’s foul-mouthed insults roll off and remains calm but stern.
“A courteous and professional demeanor does not mean timid,” the narrator says.
Wong, now a crime prevention specialist, called the Chicago video unrealistic because the officer appeared robotic. “I think police are very reactionary, and if a driver exhibits hostility, the officer must heighten their alert a little bit,” he said.
Crawford said she would act belligerent “in her young days” when pulled over for a traffic stop. But when an officer overlooked her attitude and treated her with respect, it made such an impression that she tried to emulate that response when she became an officer.
Lauri Stewart, community coordinator for the Independent Police Review Division, which serves as the intake center for police complaints, said too much police training focuses on the “aggressive, Alpha-male, dominating control” approach. She called the communication training essential, not only for traffic stops but also for all police encounters with the public.
Now Portland recruits sit through a one-day training on traffic stops, but they don’t receive a script on how to communicate with a motorist, Crebs said. Some forum members said all the training in the world might not change some officers’ behavior, but disciplining those who are discourteous would send a stronger signal.
“Enforcement is what’s got to be a big part of this,” said Richard Brown, community activist and forum member. “There’s a culture that allows that to happen, and that’s got to change.”
Brown relayed how angry he was when an officer who was searching for an armed robber stopped him in a Detroit Kmart in the early 1960s, even though Brown did not match the suspect’s description. But the officer’s demeanor took the wind out of him.
“The guy was so nice that as mad as I was, I could not curse him out,” Brown recalled. “He just ‘niced’ me to death.”
Chicago video at roll calls The Chicago department produced its video after holding several community forums on race relations. It was played at roll calls and is now part of a “courtesy and demeanor” training video series, said David Bayless, Chicago police spokesman.
Other police agencies across the country have adopted different strategies to try to make police contacts with citizens more cordial. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani had police carry wallet-sized cards to remind them to use good manners when dealing with the public.
Oregon State Police have recruits sit through “verbal judo” training that teaches officers to deflect insults and vulgarity with polite greetings and respect. The seminars mirror Chicago’s approach and are based on the teachings of George Thompson, an English professor-turned-police officer who started the New Mexico-based Verbal Judo Institute.
“It’s really designed to protect the officer by not provoking or escalating a problem,” state police Lt. Dale Rutledge said.
More than 700 law enforcement agencies, including New York City police, have had Thompson lead seminars. On his Web site, he professes to train “Samurai warriors of communication.”
Foxworth said he wants the video that Portland will produce to be shown at roll calls and to become part of a “Community Policing 101" video training series. The chief also wants his bureau to develop a separate video for citizens, to instruct them how to act when stopped by police.
Forum member Leumis Richardson said the training should help in all contacts police have with citizens. He added, “I’m a little saddened it’s a new thing.”