A Proposal for Character-based Policing

As you know, anger and resentments have once again boiled over in American cities. The fault line of displacement is along the interface of police and African Americans in the inner cities. But this time, protests calling for an end to racism and for justice were manifest in London and in Paris.

There is a time to reflect and a time to plan, but there is also a time for action. “There is a time for every purpose under Heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Here in Minnesota, I was working the past few days with two of our colleagues – Matt Bostrom, former Sheriff of Ramsey County and now working on a Ph.D. in policing at Oxford and Richard Bents, a psychologist who helped us with a self-assessment psycho-metric questionnaire on leadership decision styles – to design a new method of hiring for character in new police officers.

Yesterday morning, I sent our proposal to the Governor of our state and the Commissioner of Public Safety.

For your information, you may find a copy of our proposal here.