“Ryan noted the conversation came on the day of remembrance for civil rights leader Martin Luther King. ‘I can't think of a better day to have a conversation about this than MLK Day. Because it's all about making sure that we get communities to work with each other,’ Ryan said.”
http://bit.ly/2iFYCTK Police chiefs, Rep. Ryan, talk about preventing police shootings
Frank SchultzJanesville GazetteJanuary 16, 2017
J ANESVILLE—Six law enforcement leaders from around the country met in Janesville on Monday to offer a new approach to racially charged incidents that have torn communities apart in recent years: police shootings.
They met with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and discussed ideas for reducing officer-involved shootings.
The chiefs recognized Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore as a leader in a new way of policing that first seeks to de-escalate tense incidents so they don't result in gunfire.
Ryan took no questions but praised the effort, especially, he said, after 2016.
Last year's news included a number of shootings by police that resulted in outraged communities and fatal shootings of five police officers in Dallas, apparently in revenge for shootings of blacks by police.
“We're not here to ask for anything. We're here because we look to you as an American leader, and we think there's a good story here,” Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said to Ryan.
The organization, whose membership includes 18,000 police departments, is trying to spread new tactics and a new outlook on policing whose basis is a respect for the sanctity of life, Wexler said.
The idea is to save lives in instances that in the past resulted in the use of deadly force.
Six Janesville police officers, along with about 400 others from around the country, recently completed the training--called Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics--in New Orleans.
Wexler praised Moore, saying: “I wish that I could replicate him because he really represents the future.”
Ryan noted the conversation came on the day of remembrance for civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
“I can't think of a better day to have a conversation about this than MLK Day. Because it's all about making sure that we get communities to work with each other,” Ryan said.
Ryan said that after the Dallas shootings, a working group was formed in Congress that included the Congressional Black Caucus and the Law Enforcement Caucus.
Ryan said he doesn't want to federalize police practices, “but we want to make sure that this kind of dialogue occurs, to get best practices, to get de-escalation techniques and practices taught and transmitted throughout the country."
Ryan said he wanted communities prepared so that when the worst happens, the community can absorb the event without unrest.
The leaders acknowledged that American policing has problems.
J. Scott Thomson, police chief of Camden County, New Jersey, said the new tactics have resulted in instances that in years past would have resulted in a cop shooting someone, but, instead, everyone went home safe that night.
“Somewhere along the line, we've lost touch with what we are, and what we are is guardians. We're not warriors,” said Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County, Florida.
The incidents often involved the mentally ill.
Chitwood noted part of the new tactics involves backing off rather than rushing in when a distraught person seems intent on getting killed by police.
“The person is only of danger to themselves. They don't need to be dead,” Chitwood said.
Wexler and the police chiefs said their effort includes being as transparent as they can with their communities about police use of force and to build trust so that when someone dies, people give police the benefit of the doubt.
“This is in dire need in America, and I think we witnessed, especially last year, how if we don't get this right, communities will be destroyed, lives will be lost, families will be separated. And no one wins in that kind of a situation,” Ryan said.
“What interests me is how do you go about getting this story told and getting more departments like Janesville to implement the best practices,” Ryan said.
“You just did it. You're the speaker of the House. …. It's important that the people in this country and around the world know that the speaker of the House gets it,” Wexler replied.
The law enforcement leaders said the new techniques—derived from watching how Scottish police handle incidents while carrying no firearms--will work in big cities and small communities.
Participants in Monday's event also included Burlington, Vermont, Police Chief Brandon del Pozo; Tucson, Arizona, Police Chief Chris Magnus; and New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison.
Harrison said after the meeting that even Chicago, which is under federal order to reform its police procedures and training, could benefit from the new approach.
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