In the recent weeks I Policingard William McManus speak many times about community policing. It seems that the main way in which McManus seeks to address crime in the city of Minneapolis is through implementing community policing. While community policing is an important aspect of crime control, it is but one of many way in which to effetely deal with crime. My main concern with McManus is that he seems to offer no alternatives to community policing. Additionally McManus offers no specifics on how he would improve community policing in Minneapolis.
In all the appearances that McManus has made I have yet to hear him really speak of innovative and creative solutions to preventing crime. The few solutions that he did talk about implementing in Washington D. C. and Dayton, Ohio have already been implemented here. For example in Dayton, McManus recently helped to bring the city implemented a geographically targeted policing model. This is a program which Minneapolis has had for about half a decade. Another program that McManus created in Dayton was the Critical Intervention Team to deal with mentally ill suspects. This again is a program which Minneapolis has already established.
As a criminal justice major at the UofM I have studied different law enforcement agencies from across the nation. My overall impression of the MPD is that the department is an innovative leader in crime prevention. Such programs as CODEFOR crime mapping, the Minneapolis bait car, and graffiti abatement program, are just a few examples of the creative solutions that the MPD is continuously implementing to fight crime. As a result of these strategies Minneapolis has seen crime drop to record lows. One of the main reasons that the MPD has been able to develop new programs to deal with crime can be attributed to the open climate found in the organizational culture of the department.
The best way to maintain the organizational culture is to promote from within. An outside candidate such as McManus would severely disrupt the activities within the department and in turn cause a drop in the positive changes that the department is working towards. True positive change within the MPD is already happening. Appointing McManus would be a mistake in that he seems to be lacking creative solution to crime, and also he would hinder development of new ideas from within department. Better candidates exist for chief's position. The nomination of McManus should be rejected so that better candidates can be considered.
-Kent Amdahl
Elliot Park
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