Five months to the day after he took over as chief of the Columbus Police Department, Tony Carleton spoke to the Columbus Rotary Club, delivering a message the audience could not have anticipated. It is hard to imagine that any Rotarian left the meeting unimpressed with our new chief.
Context is important. In recent months, there has been a pervasive sense that crime is on the rise in our city. In fact, two separate citizens groups based in the city’s poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods have emerged to call attention to the crippling effects of crime.
If ever there was an opening for a chief to deliver a “get tough on crime” speech, Tuesday was the occasion.
Carleton’s address was remarkably devoid of such talk. Instead, he delivered a thoughtful, hopeful message.
If his 40-minute address could be characterized as having one major theme it would be “relationships.”
From training for his young officers to their interactions with the public, Carleton stressed that building relationships is the foundation of effective law enforcement.
“It seemed like a lot of things were broken in the department when I first got here,” the chief said. “But I found out that we’ve got a lot of good guys. They just needed some training.”
Carleton has a young department and is likely to get younger — he hopes to add 20 new officers.
Given that make-up, Carleton has been on a mission to provide those young recruits with the training they need, not only the tactical training necessary for patrol officers, but the kind of training that equips offers to handle the enormous stresses that come with the job.
Those stresses, he said, are not always constant, but they are continuous.
“Ninety percent of our time is spent dealing with 10 percent of the population and it’s mostly negative,” he said. “It’s something that can really take a toll, especially on young officers. A 21-year-old recruit probably doesn’t have the life experiences to handle those stresses in a healthy manner.”
Carleton admits he has become a nuisance among his young officers, constantly giving them books to read on the subject. “A lot of those guys are thinking, ‘A book? I haven’t read a book since high school,'” Carleton acknowledged.
Yet he persists, not only for the benefit of his young officers, but for the community they are sworn to serve.
Carleton said he winces sometimes when he’s out in the community. Often, he says, when a parent sees an uniformed officer, they’ll turn to their young child and warn them, ‘if you don’t behave, he’ll get you.”
It is not the perception Carleton wants. The police, he said, are not bogeymen to be feared, but friends.
“It really is a matter of public trust,” Carleton said. “When our officers are on a call, we depend on it. And if people can’t trust us, we’ve lost.”
Later, when asked about his impression of the Ferguson, Missouri, case, he came back to the same theme.
“It seems to me part of the problem in that situation is that the relationships between the police department and the community was broken before it happened,” he said.
Carleton is determined to avoid that mistake in Columbus.
Perhaps that is why, when asked about the greatest problem facing his department, he quickly responded; “Quality of-life issues.”
There are too many neighborhoods where criminal conduct has made life there miserable, he said
By building positive, cooperative relationships with the people who live in those neighborhoods and are most directly affected by those crimes, Carleton believes the tide of crime can turn. He realizes how his department in perceived in the community can make a profound difference.
We are encouraged by Carleton’s thoughtful approach and the efforts he has made in building a healthy, effective police force worthy of the public’s trust and support.
Any organization is ultimately a reflection of that organization’s leadership.
Carleton’s presence as chief, then, gives us renewed optimism about our police department.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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