Online Police Supports – A Solution Dying to Happen

BlueLine, however, will join the ranks of other law enforcement resource/information-sharing sites, including PoliceOne. BlueLine's emergence also comes as police departments – many shrinking in manpower due to budget cuts – have begun experimenting with social media, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for police chiefs.

The death of Sammy Yatim has brought back into focus the nature of police training and supports, especially where it comes to their interaction with Emotionally Disturbed People (EDPs).  A big question raised is the suitability of police as first-responders to EDP calls, although that’s a difficult nut to crack.  Programs like MCIT help some, but the reality is that police, by the nature of policing, will continue to be first responders; until such time as every citizen can identify the neurochemical causes of erratic behaviour, a 911 call involving aggressive or irrational individuals is going to find its way into police dispatches.

Another big concern that has been raised – this isn’t the first time the way police interact with EDPs has come to light.  It’s not even the first time a study has been called for.  In fact, multiple studies have been commissioned and they all tend to present the same findings – yet nothing really changes.  Struggling to find solutions that have public appeal and actually tackle the problem puts governments in a corner; the general public isn’t interested in complex solutions, they want clear deliverables they can understand and read about in action-oriented headlines.

The Government of Ontario, trying to demonstrated proactive action in some manner, has decided to expand police access to tasers.  The theory is that putting more varied tools into the hands of front-line police officers will give them greater on-the-spot choice, reducing their likelihood of unnecessarily turning to lethal force as a problem-solver.

I’d be interested to see the psychological studies that back up that assessment.  I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that there aren’t many.

There’s probably some hope in policing, justice and government circles that the problem will just blow over as new stories grab the headlines and capture public attention; that’s what generally happens with stories like this.  It’s why we have a series of not-acted on reports in the first place. 

What if there was another way?  What if the solution wasn’t to put more offensive weapons in the hands of isolate front-line officers but instead give them tools that connect them together and provide better access to supportive information? 

It’s being done elsewhere, in a number of different ways.  Social media is playing a key role in this perception shift of what’s best for both front-line officers and the people they interact with.

Without giving away spoilers, there are some cool applications of smartphone Apps being applied to security-related uses.  Then, there are tools like Blueline and PoliceOne that are expanding on the capacity of social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to create safe spaces for law enforcement personnel to share information, best practices and to provide peer support.

There are good models in here that I hope the people looking into Sammy Yatim’s death are looking into.  The solutions we’re looking for are literally being written, now.

It just takes someone to connect the dots, sell the story – and decision makers willing to implement change.