"They disrupt traffic, but so what? The First Amendment is more important than traffic."
Memphis police chief
candidate and Philadelphia PD Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan will be the cop most
on the spot in America next week as Philly PD’s point man for
the Democratic National Convention.
Of the five out-of-towners
who were turned up by a national search, Sullivan will be in the national spotlight like no other
as it will be his task to keep peace on the streets outside the Wells Fargo
Center.
Sullivan has somewhat of a
reputation for peaceful protests, and he says that during protest rallies, he
is on the front lines with his men; that he does not want them to don tactical
attire, and that “a verbal insult has never hurt me once in all my years. People can scream and curse me all they want,
and I’m not going to react.”
As a candidate for Philly
chief of police last year, Philly.com ran this capsule about Sullivan:
“Chief
Inspector Joseph Sullivan, 52, is probably instantly recognizable to anyone
who's attended or watched the large protests — from Occupy Philly to Ferguson
to Brandon Tate-Brown — that have unfolded in the city during the last few
years. Sullivan is always in the thick of the protests, providing a calm
presence and communicating with activists to assure that marches don't veer
into chaos.”
Sullivan and the four
other out-of-town chief candidates will be brought to Memphis in August to
interview for the job, although Memphis city council, the NAACP and even
protestors of police violence have asked Mayor Jim Strickland to name interim
police director Michael Rallings as the full-time chief. Strickland would seem to have no choice, this
side of political suicide, but to name Rallings. However, Strickland is insisting on going the
route with consideration of all candidates recommended by the International
Association of Chiefs of Police.
Here are some snippets of our conversation with Inspector Sullivan, who is commander over homeland
security, counter-terrorism and special operations:
DISSENT
When we let people vent
and get their emotions out, they feel like they have been heard. They disrupt traffic, but so what? The First Amendment is more important than
traffic.
We walk with them. I walked more than 20 miles in a
demonstration after Ferguson. In
handling demonstrations, I have my plainclothes civil affairs people, and I
have my bikes. The bikes are the key to
demonstrations. I don’t have my officers
dressed up in aggressive uniforms --
that’s a flashpoint. You may need to
have those officers somewhere nearby, but they should never be seen by protestors. They should see friendly officers. If you come dressed for a fight, you’re
likely to get a fight.
People know we do
demonstrations better than anybody else.
NYPD reached out to us to learn about our bike program due to the
success we have had. Those officers have
a helmet on, but they’re on bikes.
I believe in leading by
example. Your officers need to see the way you interface with the
community. A lot of officers aren’t
happy with the way I handle
demonstrations until they see that over time why it makes so much more sense
not to react to people, even when they are being very offensive. It makes more sense to be patient, take your
time. It is always the better course of
action to use restraint and take the high road.
A verbal insult has never
hurt me once in all my years. People can
scream and curse me all they want, and I’m not going to react. Once officers see that, they get on board,
too. You can’t ask officers to do
something when you’re sitting in your office.
When they’re in your face, like they are in the officer’s face, it makes
a world of difference. You are
experiencing the same thing they are experiencing. If they see the chief can do it,
I can do it.
FILMING THE POLICE
We had a demonstration
last night, and we only had one TV station respond, but I let them get right up
there where we were. I told them, stay
there, you’re my best witness. It keeps
my officers in line and protestors in line.
The news is here. They’re filming what we’re doing. Not all the cops like that, but it keeps everybody honest. Anybody wants to make an allegation the next
day, feel free to make an allegation.
I’ve got my body cams, and I’ve got the news. I have our video and independent video.
CITIZEN POLICE OVERSIGHT
If there is a citizen
board to give me the perspective of the community, the point of view outside the department, it
can help me do a better job and produce a better product.
The Philadelphia Police
Advisory Commission works hand in hand with our internal affairs. Some people
think they need a little more bite.
Having the confidence of the community is extremely important. There’s always a question of can the police
properly police themselves, and I believe they can, but I also believe it’s
important to have some external oversight to insure that process is honest and
thorough.
The community needs to
know that when they have a complaint, or when police officers use force, there
is going to be a fair and comprehensive investigation to determine if that
force was justified. Citizen oversight
can be an excellent tool to bring problems to our attention, such as if the
officers are properly trained, supervised and reporting. It benefits my officers, and it benefits the
community.
I hold supervisors highly
accountable. Sometimes officers make
mistakes because they are not properly trained or equipped. Sometimes officers get the blame, but my
first question is where was the commanding officer? Second question, was it a mistake of the head
or of the heart? Then, did he not have
the proper equipment so he took it to a level it didn’t need to go to? To fix a problem, look at the whole spectrum,
fix it department-wide.
THE MEMPHIS CHIEF JOB
Sometimes it can be
helpful for any organization from a management perspective to get a fresh set
of eyes to come in and take a look at things.
I’m looking forward to coming to Memphis. Memphis is a beautiful city with beautiful
people and an experience I would look forward to.
I’m ready to come and
embrace Memphis. I wouldn’t have applied
for the job if I wasn’t 100 percent all in.
I’m asking the people of Memphis to trust me that it would be beneficial
to bring me in and have a fresh set of eyes look at your department.
I approach every situation
with a positive outlook. I have to
assume that since they are taking the time and expense of bringing me to
Memphis they honestly want to hear what I have to say, and they are honestly
going to evaluate me. I am gong to take
this seriously. I would love to have the
honor bestowed upon me of being the Memphis police chief. As much as I want to be chief of Memphis, I
love being in the Philly police department, and I love coming to work every
day. If the worst thing that happens is
I continue working for Commissioner Ross, that’s fine, too.
My girlfriend has done a
lot of research on Memphis, and we’re getting really excited about it. We’re looking at a lot of different things on
the Internet, and we are seeing that people in Memphis eat very well. We’re very excited about the prospect of
being in Memphis, including the culinary opportunities.
POLITICS AND CRIME
I’m working 16 hours a day
on the DNC. I’m a professional, and my
heart and soul is in making the DNC a success for my city and my police
commissioner. I am not a politician; I will get well-versed in the politics before
I come to Memphis. It’s not the politics
that concern Memphis, it’s the crime. You reduce crime by building bridges with the
community. If you don’t have their trust
and confidence, and their belief in you, you will not have success in fighting
crime.
LEADERSHIP STYLE
If you’re looking for a
guy who spends the day in the office, I’m not him. I am on the street, hands-on at the front,
that’s the type of leader I am. That instills
confidence in your men and women to see you out front. And if you don’t have the
confidence of your men and women and of the community, you cannot be effective.
I respond to all demonstration
watches personally. When as a police
executive you arrive on the scene, your officers should get a bit of a smile,
should be happy to see me.
MANAGING OFFICERS
To come work for me you
don’t need to know me, be related to me, just come to do the job, and be enthusiastic
about doing the job. Every officer
should have a chance to have a great career, and that’s important to
maintaining an officer’s morale. Not
every career path has to end up in being a supervisor; not everybody wants to
be a supervisor. Not everybody wants to
spend their whole career on patrol and doing the same thing every day.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is another
way to communicate. People are very into
social media, and the police department has to do the same. You can solve a lot of crime using social
media, and it’s a good way to assure the community that you are there, what you
are doing to handle a problem. That’s how you keep the lid on the pot. If you don’t respond to their questions, you’re
inviting trouble.
COMMUNITY POLICING
I’m a proponent of
community policing as long as the community policing involves the entire
department -- all the officers, not a select few officers.
Part of the problem is we
often don’t involve the line-level officers in the process of community
policing. We don’t have them come to
community meetings. In the community
policing process, if we make it a specialized function, that’s not community policing.
Community policing to me
is a crime-fighting tool. If you say you’re
practicing community policing and your crime’s not going down, you’re not doing
it well. If you’re doing it right, you’re
developing better lines of communication and higher levels of trust with the
community.
Of course, everyone wants
us to address violent crime; but people have other things that are important to
them, that affect their quality of life.
You can’t assume you know everything people want without talking to
them.
No comments:
Post a Comment