Ramesh Nyberg
Standing Tall(er)
While the rest of the world seems to be losing their sense of decency and decorum – even competence – there’s one aspect of our society which is actually getting better. What might that be?
It’s us…the police. Allow me to explain.
At the risk of sounding like an old grouch, I submit to you, reader, that in almost every area of society, we are seeing decline. I’m not talking about your favorite stocks or the latest in technology; no, all that stuff is doing remarkably well. I’m talking about people. Is customer service at your favorite retail stores, restaurants, service counters, airlines getting better? If you say, yes, I want to know where you live and I might move there. From where I’m standing, human beings have forgotten how to serve and care for one another. We’ve forgotten the value of an important concept: the customer.
Road rage is up (more than your favorite stocks), math and reading scores of young people are plunging year by year, and teachers are jumping ship in disturbing numbers. I certainly don’t have to tell you about how things are going in the world of politics. That used to be an element of our culture which people could discuss pleasantly, regardless of who they did or did not support. Even technology has replaced human interaction with AI machinery, so much so that, when you have an issue (they used to be called “problems,” as I recall), you won’t even find a phone number on the Web sites of these tech giants to call. Instead, you go to some public forum or get to chat with a robot.
We’ve forgotten how to talk to each other and no one seems to care.
In the background of this cold, lonely abyss which we used to call human interaction, there is the police. Have we gotten worse, too? I’m going to say “no.” Am I biased? Maybe I am, a bit. Let’s talk about communication first. I’ve watched dozens of police/citizen encounters on YouTube and other social media and, for the most part, I see tremendous restraint by uniform officers. Maybe it’s the training, or maybe it’s the fact that they know they are wearing bodycams and that keeps them in check. It doesn’t matter. In watching how some citizens flat-out abuse officers, I imagine that happening in 1982, for example, and my mind creates a scenario wherein the officer has found a way to effect an arrest, one in which the citizen now needs medical treatment. “Contempt of Cop” is what we used to call it and it happened a lot.
Another aspect of policing which has changed dramatically (and for the better): dealing with the mentally ill. In my uniform days, we had zero training on how to deal with mentally ill people, except to know that there was a place called “Crisis Intervention” where we could take them for a Baker Act involuntary detention. There, they could be held up to 72 hours to be examined by psychiatric professionals. We dealt with “Baker Acts” (as we called them) frequently. To most cops, these were just people who disturbed our day with their bizarre behavior and we put them through the Crisis revolving door, just to deal with them – sometimes by arrest – again and again. Today’s uniform cops do the same thing, but there’s a different approach. Police agencies are better equipped to deal with mental illness than we were.
A couple of years ago, a friend called me about a problem he was having with his 20 something son. The kid was exhibiting paranoid schizophrenic behavior and it terrified him and his family. He asked me to come over. When I got there, the son had bolted out the door and no one could get in touch with him. My friend and I talked for a few minutes and he called the City of Miami Police so that the son could be reported as someone who could end up harming himself or someone else. The two officers who showed up were from a special squad designated for mental illness calls. They spoke professionally and their knowledge about different behaviors and symptoms and resources available to the family was admirable. They got the description from my friend and broadcast a BOLO to try and find their son.
While there, one of the officers got notified on the radio that the son was in protective custody under the Baker Act. It turned out that one of their squad members encountered the young man on a street corner downtown acting strangely and made contact with him. He soon realized that the guy needed help before the BOLO went out. He could have turned his back and walked off. “No one dispatched me…not my call.” But, instead, he approached him, recognized the problem and secured him. My friend’s son was safe. I left the house feeling good about the City of Miami Police Department, an agency which had more than its share of bad publicity (much of it well deserved) and a reputation which kept getting battered around like a piñata for about three decades while I was on the job with the county. Over the past several years, I’ve conducted training sessions on major case investigations with officers all around the country and I have been impressed – even encouraged – by the quality of police officers and supervisors in the ranks today. Locally, I’ve had several conversations with young police officers in the 18 years since my retirement, and I can honestly say that the vast majority of them seem brighter, better trained and more professional than we were. And, we were pretty good.
Speaking of piñatas, this police profession I am praising has taken some severe pummeling in social media and the press like no other era, but there are fine young people still stepping up to wear the badge and try to make their communities better. The police profession is all about customer service. Yes, they all have much better technology available to do the jobs, but we all know that’s not what gives the public confidence in what we do. Rather, it’s our presence and our attitude that makes the mark. We don’t get tips and we don’t ask for praise; we just keep trying to better ourselves so we can be better guardians of the citizens we are sworn to protect.
So, to you folks now carrying the torch for us old bellyachers, I say “Thank you.” We’re all depending on you now to take care of us because, in the rest of the world, stuff isn’t getting any easier and people aren’t getting any nicer.
Stay safe out there.
Ramesh Nyberg retired from law enforcement in November 2006 after 27 years of police work. He lives in Miami and teaches criminal justice at a local high school. He also teaches regional law enforcement courses through Training Force, USA. He enjoys getting feedback from readers and can be reached at ramesh.nyberg@gmail.com. Also, Ram has written a new book, Badge, Tie and Gun: Life and Death Journeys of a Miami Detective, which is available on Amazon in both Kindle eBook and paperback.
