21ST Century Policing

The Port Townsend Police Department’s Approach to Public Safety in a New Era

In this presentation:

• Who We Are• Progressive Policing

• Community Services Officer

• Navigator

• School Resource Officer

• Changes in Law Enforcement and Public Safety

• 21st Century Policing Concerns• Body Cameras

• Uses of Force

• Officer Involved Shootings

• De-Escalation

• Critical Incident Training

• RAD Protocol

• Equity in Police Interactions

• Incident Types

• Arrests by Race

• Working With the Ad-Hoc Committee• Evolving Crisis Response

• Non-Enforcement Roles

• Local Violent Crime Information

• Staffing

• Societal Differences in Law Enforcement

• Disarming Police

• Going Forward and Conclusion

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Who We Are:

• We are a mix of sworn and non-sworn employees, committed to the same mission

• Many of us live in the City of Port Townsend or nearby areas

• We encourage higher education through hiring practices and pay incentives

• We love our community, and share a common goal of public safety for all

• We are committed to an ongoing process of adapting and improving our responses to challenges the community faces

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ThePort Townsend

Police Department is an industry

leader in progressive policing

We recognized over a decade ago that we must change to meet the

needs of our society.

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We employ a full-time, unarmed Community Service

OfficerThe Community Service Officer performs a number of functions

including:

• Event Planning and Coordination

• Forensic Child Interviews

• Animal Control

• Public Safety Information

• Volunteer Program Coordinator

• Parking Enforcement

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The PTPD employs a full-time “Navigator”

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• Unarmed mental health professional

• Duties include assisting with de-escalation and helping people in crisis and at-risk populations connect with the resources they need

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

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Changes in Law Enforcement and Public Safety

• Over the past fifteen years, there has been a steady, nation-wide push to re-examine how we approach public safety

• This led directly to President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

• PTPD remains committed to the recommendations of the President’s Task Force, which we have pursued as part of our ongoing effort to seek Accreditation through WASPC

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What specific concerns has the public vocalized about policing in

the 21st Century?

Where does PTPD stand in

relation to these concerns?

Some Key Areas of Concern:

• Body Cameras

• Bans on Chokeholds and Strangleholds

• Warnings before Shooting

• Duty to Intervene

• Use of Force tracking and reporting

• Require De-escalation Training

• Equitable Policing Practices

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The Port Townsend Police Department is a regional leader in recording police

interactions.

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First Agency on the Olympic Peninsula to:• Record all interactions with the

public, by installing dash cameras in 2007

• Adopt body cameras, by issuing AXON Flex Cameras to all offices, beginning in November of 2019

Police Body Cameras

Use of Force Concerns

REPORTING AND REVIEW OF FORCE:

All use of forces incidents, in which a Port Townsend Police Department officer is involved, mandates a “use of force” report be submitted.

Additionally, involved officers must notify a supervisor as soon as possible. This triggers review of the incident conducted by supervisors, including a review of reports and body camera footage.

PTPD reviews our use of force statistics regularly.

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Use of Force Concerns, Continued

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CHOKE HOLDS:

The Police Department bans chokeholds and strangleholds, except when deadly force is authorized.

Use of the Carotid Control Hold (different from a chokehold or stranglehold) is restricted to officers trained and certified in its use and is one of several options available to help control a violent or combative subject.

INTERVENTION IN USE OF FORCE:

Our policy requires officers intervene if they witness another officer using illegal force on a subject. PTPD has reinforced this policy with in-service training on the topic

Officer Involved Shootings

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WARNINGS PRIOR TO SHOOTING:

PTPD policy requires a warning before an officer discharges a firearm, whenever feasible.

If an officer cannot safely give such a warning (for instance, during an active shooter type situation), the absence of a warning would need to be articulated.

SHOOTING AT VEHICLES:

Policy discourages shooting at vehicles unless absolutely necessary, and directs officers to move out of the way of an oncoming vehicle whenever possible.

We do not flatly prohibit firing at vehicles, because in certain rare situations (for example, a terrorist attack in which a vehicle is used as a weapons), it may be necessary to do so in order to save lives.

Officer Involved Shootings, Continued

The Port Townsend Police Department has not had an officer involved shooting since 1995

In that instance, officers defended themselves after coming under gunfire from a man who had just shot a woman

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1995 Kitsap Sun Article on PTPD-involved Shooting

Officer Training in

De-Escalation

• The Port Townsend Police Department has developed a robust Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program

• Our program focuses on verbal and physical de-escalation whenever possible.

• Our program substantially exceeds state requirements

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How do we do this?

• Issued a 300-page training manual for law enforcement officers, covering:• Verbal and physical de-escalation of

people

• Responding to crises such as mental health-related incidents, rage, aggression, and other situations

• The book’s author, Ellis Amdur, is a trained psychologist and certified counselor.

• After finishing the book, officers are required to complete ten separate tests covering its various topics, required score is 100%

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Since 2012 we have:

Does it work?

What does outside review

of the PTPD CIT program

reveal?

Our CIT Program has been reviewed by:

• Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center’s (CJTC) CIT Program Coordinators

• Ellis Amdur, psychologist, counselor, and author

Feedback received:

• CIT Program Coordinators: Based on the reading, tests and mock scenes, we are giving our officers the equivalent of an additional 40 hours of CIT training

• Ellis Amdur: “You are starting your officers out with the inculcation of a cultural expectation on how you will be policing your community”

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One Step Further:

R.A.D Protocol

RageAggression

Delirium

RAD Protocol Highlights:

• Researched and developed by a PTPD Officer and an EJFR Chief in 2015

• Synthesizes police and medical response to persons in crisis

• Emphasizes verbal de-escalation and medical response

• Resolves physical threats through medical intervention

• End goal is medical treatment and transition to mental health responders, drug and alcohol treatment, or other social services

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THE RAD PROTOCOL:• Has been used over 76 times

in Port Townsend

• Is being looked to as a model for surrounding agencies

• Will be presented at upcoming CIT conferences

• A collaborative, medical tool to resolve violent crises safely for ALL involved

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We believe the

RAD Protocol

has saved many

lives in our

community

Equity in Police Interactions• We are currently gathering and consolidating data regarding:

• The volume and type of 911 calls to which we respond

• Crime rates and types of crime

• Demographics of persons arrested and booked by PTPD

• We have some initial data available at this time, and will share more as it becomes available.

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Types of Incidents, 2017-2020

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NOTE:

This data set focuses on incidents to which the police are summoned.

It excludes proactive incidents, such as traffic stops and area checks.

This is intentional, to better highlight the types of incidents that prompt 911 calls and requests for police assistance.

Homicide - 0.01% 2

Sex Offenses - 0.39% 75

Violent Incidents - 7.14% 1374

DUI - 0.99% 190

Traffic Collisions - 3.47% 667

Parking & Traffic Complaints - 9.60% 1847

Property Crimes and Theft - 8.15% 1568

Trespassing / Unwanted Subjects - 6.75% 1298

Report of Suspicious Activity - 8.99% 1729

Persons in Crisis - 7.36% 1415

Drug & Alcohol Investigations - 0.84% 162

Warrant Arrests - 1.78% 343

Animal, Noise, and Nuisance - 10.45% 2010

Assisting Community Agencies - 20.01% 3849

Community Caretaking - 8.37% 1609

Other Incidents - 5.70% 1096

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Types of Incidents, 2017-2020

This chart shows the same data as on the previous page, but in different format.

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2017 Arrests (440 Total)

Arrestee Race

Count of Arrests

by Race

Percent of Total

Arrests by Race

American Indian/Alaskan Native 5 1.14%

Asian/Pacific Islander 5 1.14%

Black 22 5.00%

Hispanic or Latino* 1 0.23%

Unknown 6 1.36%

White 400 90.91%

No Data 1 0.23%

Jail Bookings by Race, 2017-2019

This data set is drawn from internal records of cases leading to arrest.

We are working with the JCSO Jail to cross-reference bookings, and also learn more about these arrests.

In the future, we plan to examine, among other topics:

• How many arrests are for new charges versus warrants

• What types of crimes are represented

• How many arrestees are local residents, and how many visitors

• How many individual arrestees appear repeatedly in this data set

We plan to offer a deeper analysis during a future presentation.

2018 Arrests (464 Total)

Arrestee Race

Count of Arrests

by Race

Percent of Total

Arrests by Race

American Indian/Alaskan Native 8 1.72%

Asian/Pacific Islander 5 1.08%

Black 21 4.53%

Hispanic or Latino* 1 0.22%

No Data 3 0.65%

Unknown 10 2.16%

White 416 89.66%

2019 Arrests (363 Total)

Arrestee Race

Count of Arrests

By Race

Percent of Total

Arrests by RaceAmerican Indian/Alaskan Native 5 1.38%Asian/Pacific Islander 3 0.83%Black 4 1.10%Unknown 3 0.83%White - Non-Hispanic 249 68.60%White - Unknown / No Data 91 25.07%White - Hispanic 8 2.20%White (Total) 348 95.87%

EVOLVING OUR CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEM

• We believe that collaboration with citizens, professionals, community agencies, and other stakeholders will help us evolve our crisis response system to meet the specific needs of our community.

• We plan to continue to provide valuable services not solely related to enforcement.

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Non-Enforcement Roles

Daily and weekly in Port Townsend, our Police:

• Issue far more warnings than tickets (less than 14% of traffic stops result in a ticket or arrest)

• Focus on education, behavioral change, and prevention whenever possible

• Make arrests for non-violent crimes only after other solutions have failed, and usually only after multiple warnings

• Participate in therapeutic courts and diversion programs

• Help our citizens with a variety of problems, including missing property, lost animals, neighborhood disputes, and medical emergencies

Our officers value the ability to serve as well as protect; this tradition is part of our organizational culture.

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Gathering Local Information About Violent Crime

Data-driven decision making and evidence-based practices are a cornerstone of the Police Department’s continuous improvement philosophy. We will help in any way we can with a review of local statistics.

Based on our records system, which is consistent with Federal tracking of incidents, violent crime in Port Townsend has remained nearly static, with variations in Aggravated Assaults driving the major trends.

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Port Townsend Violent Crimes 2014-2019

Murder/Att. Murder Rape Robbery Agg. Assault Total Violent Crimes

STAFFING

Our current staffing model is designed to ensure there are at least two commissioned officers and one commissioned supervisor (sergeant or chief) on duty or available at any given time; we have long believed this to be the minimum level because:

• When responding to violent incidents, officers, bystanders, victims, and suspects are all generally safer when officers can respond with at least one backup officer.

• Supervisors need the capacity to supervise; when supervisors respond to calls as a patrol officer instead, supervisory tasks go uncompleted and the community does not receive the full value of the supervisor’s training and experience.

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STAFFINGUnder our current staffing model, supervisors spend approximately half of their time responding to calls, and there are daily periods with only one patrol officer on duty.

Adding to this, two officer positions are currently unable to perform the duties of police officers because they have not yet completed training.

While public safety remains our primary concern, these challenges may have an impact on readiness and responsiveness.

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Societal Differences in Policing and Gun Violence

The most prominent example of a primarily disarmed constabulary remains the United Kingdom. Most police officers in the UK perform their duties unarmed, with a small “armed response unit” available when needed.

However, in the UK, civilian firearm ownership is largely prohibited, and even knives, scissors, and other potentially deadly weapons are heavily regulated.

By contrast, in the United States, there are at least 390 million firearms. We lead the developed world in gun ownership, gun deaths, and gun crime.

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More Guns in the Hands of Private Citizens

According to a study by the Brookings Institute, firearms sales have spiked in the Spring of 2020, correlating strongly with the advent of COVID-19 and the aftermath of the George Floyd killing. They estimate that more than three million additional guns were sold in the U.S. during the period of March through June of this year over what would have ordinarily been sold during these months (Profs. Levine and McKnight, Economic Studies at Brookings, July 13, 2020.)

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Qualified Immunity

Our court system must ensure officers who act in bad faith can be held accountable, and we are committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualified Immunity is complex legal doctrine that is under a great deal of scrutiny, and we are interested to see what future decisions will be made at the Federal level to improve accountability and transparency in law enforcement.

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City Council Committee on

Law Enforcement and Public Safety

• Above all, the Port Townsend Police Department is committed to our community and all its members.

• The Police Department is committed to delivering services that conform to the values of this community using evidence-based practices and the scientific method.

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The Port Townsend Police Department agrees that as our societal needs change, we must be committed to adapting and moving forward to meet our community’s challenges and

embrace its opportunities.

We look forward to being part of the solution.

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