by Councilman Bill Kling, District #4
(HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA) – – We have a good police department. The police department has a strong record of providing especially good protection and assistance to the most vulnerable citizens in our community. Our crime rate is low compared to other cities our size. We are the 27th largest land-area city in the entire country for which the Huntsville Police Department provides services for. We can make improvements within the police department to better serve the public, similar to the improvements that have been made in other City departments.
Recommendations based upon input from citizens in the community fall into four areas:
1. More emphasis on Mental Health services and training
2. Community outreach
3. Rebuilding community trust
4. More aggressive use of the Internet
*During the hiring process there should be more emphasis placed on screening the emotional and problem-solving qualities of applicants There is a need for increased de-escalation training.
*Police officers should be given more down time, with treatment in between the handling of traumatic calls such as murder, child abuse, etc.
*Appropriate calls should be diverted to Mental Health and/or drug addiction counselors.
*There is much community outreach currently done by the police department, such as the Ride With A Cop program, Ranger Program for teens, Community Relations Officers working out of each police precinct, Senior Citizens Crime Academy, the interfacing with over 150 Community Watch chapters, etc, but there is still a perception in some areas of the community of a lack of positive contact between the Police Department and the community. Emphasis on positive contact should be increased in the future. A Public Information Officer can help with this need. Ideas include forming a HPD speakers bureau, and getting suggestions from the public on how to improve outreach.
*In order to increase public trust, all current officers and all future applicants’ backgrounds should be screened by an outside agency, similar to the FBI screening national guardsmen at the US Capitol.
*Changes should be made to the composition of the Citizens Advisory Committee so that all appointees are made by the Mayor and City Council members. A police officer would be appointed by the Police Chief to serve as a (non-voting) liaison between the Committee and the Police Department. The Committee should have full authority within city government to audit internal affairs findings, as well as compel the attendance of any police department employee to its meetings.
*Body cam footage should be released to the public once all relevant court cases and appeals have been completed, and with the consent of affected family members.
*The use of tear gas should be restricted in the future to ONLY the most extreme circumstances, similar in severity as the attack on the US Capitol building. In the future, citizens who are in violation of protest permits and refuse to disperse after warnings, should be arrested.
*The Internet should be used to post all Standard Operating Procedures and Use of Force Procedures so that both citizens and police officers are equally informed as to what conduct is expected from each party during police-citizen contact.
*An email “sign up” list should be created withing the HPD web page. Citizens can sign up to receive media releases, a weekly communication from the Police Chief, etc.
*Mandate annual training on Use of Force policies for officers as part of their required annual Alabama Peace Officers standards and training continuing education and publicly archive completion certificates.
*The Internet should be used to publicly explain the hiring process as it pertains to screening candidates for racial bias. The current psychological screening should be used to screen candidates for racial bias/discriminatory tendencies.
*There should be a posting of Huntsville crime mapping data.
*Post on the HPD website officer complaint information including the nature of complaint and the disposition. This posting would be similar to the disclosing of teachers’ complaints.
*There should be a HPD website the posting of policy as to how the police department will screen and handle officers whom are discovered to have exhibited racial bias or discriminatory tendencies.
*Use the Citizens Advisory Committee to review agency standard operating procedures for evidence of bias and over policing. Their findings should be reported to the public via the Internet.
*The Citizens Advisory Committee’s composition should be diverse in order to provide representation for African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Caucasian communities. It should review citizen complaints and make Standard Operating Procedure disciplinary recommendations to the Mayor and City Council.
*The police department policy manual should be placed on the HPD website in order to foster better public understanding.
*There should be an internet posting of completion certification for officers’ annual training on agency Standard Operating Procedures and Use of Force policies.
*There should be an online complaint form, plus an explanation of the submission process for citizens, and where to file law enforcement complaints.
*The (independent) Citizens Advisory Committee should be utilized to review all citizen complaints submitted to the Huntsville police Department.
During the two protests last June, an incorrect decision was made to use tear gas on the public. In short, public trust needs to be restored up and better communicated. This is a two-way need. Ideas include having a stronger emphasis placed on community outreach and public communication. The public needs to better understand the training and policies that police officers follow. Guidelines for protests/parade permits should be posted on the internet, so the public can understand their rights and responsibilities, such as being required to stay on sidewalks, the length of the permit, and when required to disperse. The Internet is a valuable tool that can be utilized in this area. More emphasis should be placed on mental health training and adding specialty personnel for the Police Dept.
Thanks to Reemuhlus Bowden, Pam Caruso, Angela Curry, Jane DeNeefe, Dean Gillmore, Chris Harris, Harold Kemp, and Tyler Nafe for their input on this initiative.
