Police use of force has been a hot button issue lately. Whether the use of force was legally justified or not, it still leaves a burr in the saddle of some when they hear of an unarmed person being shot by government agents. Ideas on how this problem could be solved have been mentioned by experts and the layman to no avail. In this article, I will not claim to know how to stop the excessive use of force by police in one wave of a magic wand because I believe that this issue requires a multifaceted solution including the abolition of victimless crimes. Instead, I will offer an opinion on how to reduce uses of force by using words rather than guns.
I have been a deputy sheriff for over 11 years. The department that I work for requires every deputy to work inside of the jail for at least two years before they can apply to become a patrol deputy. One thing I have learned while spending 11 years watching former jail deputies become patrol deputies in comparison to rookie police officers who have gone directly to the street with no jail or prison experience is the discrepancy in how much they're respected. Patrol deputies are much more respected than city patrol officers.
In the criminal justice system, we have what are known as “frequent fliers.” This term refers to those habitual “criminals” who are seen by law enforcement and the court system frequently, usually for drug or alcohol related offenses. I cannot count the amount of times I hear from these frequent fliers the phrase, “ I would much rather deal with the sheriffs because they are more respectful.” I attribute this respect to experience that deputy sheriffs get while working in a jail/corrections setting and being required to use words rather than guns for the first two years of their career. I see more angry people brought in by city and state police than by county deputies by a very large margin.
When you work in a jail, you are grossly outnumbered. At any time, the inmate population could easily overpower the jail/prison staff and have their way with you. I walk into a pod of over 60 inmates by myself all of the time and I can tell you that my taser and pepper spray would be no match if they all decided to come at me. The key to keeping the inmate population at bay is mutual respect and a technique that we refer to as “Verbal Judo.”
Being a jailer or corrections officer is a game of politics. Most people don’t realize that there is a such thing as “prison politics”. However, you could hear the inmates themselves use this phrase. Prison politics include such things as a criminal hierarchy where the rapists, wife beaters and child molesters are at the bottom of the totem pole and gang leaders and drug kingpins run the show. Within that mix, you have the jailers and corrections staff. As a staff member, you have to utilize a mixture of assertiveness coupled with respect without being a pushover or a jerk. This can be a tough balance, but once it’s achieved, you will see dramatically fewer issues. The inmate population isn’t stupid and they know a pushover when they see one but they also know the assertive one who is fair and equal in all they do. They also know who the jerks are and you don’t want to be in the jerk or pushover category because you won’t last very long. They will pick you apart if you don’t know how to act or if you don’t know what you are doing because in a jail/prison setting, you don’t have a gun. You don’t have the option of deadly force at your fingertips. You don’t have the option of getting in your patrol vehicle to flee a dangerous environment. In jail, you are stuck with the choices you make right then and there, so they better be good ones.
De-escalation courses have been suggested to help curb police uses of force. I can tell you that these are already part of every police academy curriculum but not nearly enough time is spent on the subject. I want to offer a new way of looking at de-escalation, though. It should be mandatory for every law enforcement officer, whether they are city police, county sheriff, state police, or any federal police to work a minimum of two years in a jail/prison setting. I would bet that we would see less uses of force and more de-escalation if this were instituted. This would also solve staff shortages at jails and prisons and weed out any overzealous cop with a chip on his/her shoulder.
This is not a cure-all because we would still have some overzealous people who do work in jails and prisons. However, I will say that a person who has worked in a jail or prison will use de-escalation as their go-to before they will use physical force.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views held by The Liberty Block or any of its contributors or members.
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