DC's Lousy Police Force
Name withheld on request
wonderful "get tough on crime" legislation, and the one the BATF says
supplies 40% of the illegal weapons in their jurisdiction.)
From the Wall Street Journal, 3 November 1993.
Washington's Inept Police Force
By Tucker Carlson
Although President Clinton eventually told Washington's mayor that he
would not mobilize the National Guard to patrol the city's streets, he
claimed to be "very sympathetic" to the idea. Who wouldn't be? Like
many other American cities, Washington is a very violent place. Mayor
Sharon Pratt Kelly's request, although criticized by some, was not
illogical. It came around the time Washington had recorded its 376th
homicide this year.
The problem with the request is that Washington already has enough
police. In fact, it has more of them per capita than any city in
America. So far, however, they haven't done much to control crime.
Indeed, Washington residents are saddled with a police department that
is inept and unresponsive at best, criminal at worst. How did this
happen?
For years, Washington's police force enjoyed a reputation as one of
the best in the country. In the 1950's, it was not uncommon for
detectives to solve all the district's murder cases in a given year.
Then, in the mid-1970's, the city adopted a residency requirement for
new police officers. The rule limited the pool of applicants
dramatically by preventing experienced cops from joining Washington's
police force without moving their families to the city. Although the
regulation was later repealed, it caused the department to adopt slack
hiring practices that remain in place.
Even with an affirmative action program that adds points to the scores
of candidates simply for attending Washington's public schools (and
not necessarily graduating), many potential officers could not pass
the police academy's tests. So the department changed requirements. In
May, 1985, a recruit at the police academy could be expelled for
failing two exams. Seven months later, the same recruit would have to
fail six exams to be sent packing.
But dropping the benchmark wasn't enough. Then-Mayor Marion Barry came
to the rescue. His solution: appoint officers by lottery - the
ultimate in equal opportunity. Even by Mr. Barry's standards, this was
pretty wacky. Congress thought so, too, and ultimately squelched the
idea in its budget appropriation for the city. But the spirit of
nonjudgement lived on. In 1988, after 40% of graduating recruits
failed the final comprehensive exam, the police academy abolished the
test.
All this had a predictable effect on the caliber of Washington cops.
"I saw people who were practically illiterate", says Mike Hubbard, a
detective who spent five years training recruits. "I've seen people
diagnosed as borderline-retarded graduate from the police academy."
Things had gotten worse by 1989, when, in an attempt to fight rising
crime, the city hired nearly 2,000 new officers. "In our zeal to get
as many new officers on the street as are being demanded," said Deputy
Chief Melvin Clark, "we kind of rushed the training process." That is
a diplomatic assessment. Mr. Hubbard puts it simply: "We swore in
entire classes - hundreds of people - without background checks."
Often it seemed that police officials weren't interested in what an
applicant had done before signing up for a gun and badge. Like other
cities, Washington seals the criminal records of juvenile offenders
once they become adults. Apparently the policy is not to eliminate
people with criminal juvenile pasts.
To find out more, I called the recruiting office and spoke with
Investigator Debbie Reid. I explained that I wanted to join the force,
but was worried that my "extensive juvenile criminal record" would me
that impossible. "No", she assured me, "that alone will not keep you
from coming aboard." I then told her that, truth be told, my juvenile
record was pretty bad. In fact, I said, I had spent considerable time
in jail for an armed-robbery conviction. Surely that would disqualify
me. Not necessarily, she said. "It depends on what your disposition
was at the time."
As word of the department's new and inclusive hiring procedures leaked
out, thousands took advantage. "A lot of people who were in the drug
rackets joined the police department," says former Washington cop
Montague Holmes. "Some of them went straight when they joined the
department, and some of them didn't."
Last year, 36 officers were indicted on charges such as dope dealing,
sexual assault, sodomy, kidnapping and murder. In one instance,
scores, perhaps thousands, of confiscated weapons (sloppy police
record-keeping makes it impossible to know the exact number) were
stolen from a police warehouse by employees. At least one was later
used in a murder.
Even honest officers often are ill-suited for police work. Aside from
a basic agility test, the department applies almost no physical
standards to recruits. For instance, it does not require strength or
endurance tests, either of which might bring the city into conflict
with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Candidates for the force, a
recruiting pamphlet says, must be at least five feet tall and "carry
proportionate weight." According to one officer, officials are lenient
in determining how much weight is proportionate. As a result, he says,
the force has a nationwide reputation for fat cops.
In addition to its personnel problems, the police department often
operates with inferior and outdated equipment. Many station houses
make do with rotary-dial phones. Mr. Hubbard says the clerical
equipment in his office consists of two manual typewriters. A report
by the Washington Times found that in one police district 12 out of
19 patrol cars were out of service. In another district, a lack of
cars sometimes caused backups of 40 calls, requiring police to devise
a kind of triage system.
But even better equipment can't seem to solve the department's more
basic shortcomings. In the late 1980's the police began to phase in
new, 9mm service pistols. Within a short time, it became evident that
such weaponry was beyond the grasp of many cops. Between early 1989
and late 1992, more than one out of every seven shots fired by
Washington police officers was fired accidentally.
If some cops consider their guns hard to operate, others find reports
even more challenging. Gary Hankins, former head of Washington's
police union, claims many young officers appear baffled by routine
paperwork. "Reports they turn in may be unusable, unreadable," he
says.
A Washington prosecutor says poorly written reports or incomplete
police work can make it impossible to win convictions in criminal
cases. The proof is in the courts: Between 1988 and 1990, about a
third of murder cases brought by the police were dismissed. According
to the Washington Post, police failed to arrest anybody in nearly half
of the city's murder cases between 1988 and 1990. And for the 1,286
killings during those years, only 94 people were convicted of
first-degree murder.
Obviously, until the city reforms its own police department, it's
unlikely that additional warm bodies in uniform - whether they are
National Guardsmen or Foreign Legionnaires - will be able to bring
peace to Washington's streets.
Frank Silbermann
> (Here's a nice article about Clinton's pet PD, the one that
> supports his wonderful "get tough on crime" legislation,
> and the one the BATF says supplies 40% of the illegal weapons
> in their jurisdiction.) From the Wall Street Journal, 3 November 1993.
For those who missed the above post, selected quotes are included
at the bottom. Note that in most cities, standards for private
armed security guards are no better. Clearly, the goal of gun control
is not to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and incompetents
(or they would be lobbying for more restrictive polce/security-guard
hiring practices). Rather, Sarah Brady's goal is to restrict guns
to those people who, by their employment, must anwer to the rich
and the powerful.
"Whenever people...entrust the defense of their country
to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries
[e.g. professional police forces -- f.s.], the power of that
country will remain under the direction of the most wealthy
citizens..." - "A Framer" in the independent gazetteer, 1791
> Washington's Inept Police Force, by Tucker Carlson
>
> Washington has [more police per capita than any city in America.
> So far, however, they haven't done much to control crime.
> Indeed, Washington residents are saddled with a police department
> that is inept and unresponsive at best, criminal at worst.
> ...
> Even with an affirmative action program that adds points
> to the scores of candidates simply for attending Washington's
> public schools (and not necessarily graduating), many potential
> officers could not pass the police academy's tests. So the
> department changed requirements. ... But dropping the benchmark
> wasn't enough. ... In 1988, after 40% of graduating recruits
> failed the final comprehensive exam, the police academy abolished
> the test. "I saw people who were practically illiterate"
> says Mike Hubbard, a detective who spent five years training recruits.
> "I've seen people diagnosed as borderline-retarded graduate
> from the police academy. We swore in entire classes - hundreds
> of people - without background checks."
>
> "A lot of people who were in the drug rackets joined the police
> department," says former Washington cop Montague Holmes.
> "Some of them went straight when they joined the department,
> and some of them didn't." ... Between early 1989 and late 1992,