But this week, those challenges peaked for police departments in Louisville, Kentucky; Columbus, Ohio; and Philadelphia – each of which has been under increasing scrutiny for police shootings or how they handled protests last summer.
“This has been a remarkable period for police departments, police chiefs and sheriffs, unlike any other time in recent history,” Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), told CNN. “Police departments have been challenged.”
While race is a factor in the challenges that police departments face, said Wexler, the use of force is the “defining issue” for police chiefs, whether in relation to the shootings or the demonstrations they provoke. The departments’ biggest challenge is to regain public trust, he said.
Other departments are also facing requests for reform.
In Minneapolis, councilors and advocates called for a reform of the police department after the police’s assassination of George Floyd last May.
And the Baltimore Police Department – which has had five police commissioners since 2015 – entered its fourth year under a consent decree requiring comprehensive reforms after years of corruption and abusive practices.
“Public expectations have never been higher,” Wexler told CNN. “From the point of view of a police chief, (they are) having to rethink their strategies.”
Here is an overview of these three departments and the challenges they are facing this week.
Louisville police face low morale, lack of community trust
Police chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department, Erika Shields, was in office less than two weeks before a new report found that the department is struggling with low morale and lack of confidence in its community.
The report was commissioned by the city following the police murder of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police under a preventive arrest warrant in her apartment in March 2020. The death of the 26-year-old fueled protests in the last summer initially triggered by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Among the findings of the 150-page report was the low morale of the LMPD.
Approximately 75% of respondents to an internal survey last summer said they would move to another agency if given the chance, said Robert Davis, senior vice president at Hillard Heintze, the company hired to conduct the review. And now the department is struggling to recruit and retain new employees.
According to her, repairing the secretariat’s relationship with the community will require education, training and dialogue.
“The LMPD cannot get involved in enough community events because at some point what is missing is humanization,” said Shields, adding, “and I think unfortunately the department is not as diverse as it should be.”
Columbus Chief of Police descends
After the fatal shot at a black man last month, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced this week that Columbus Division police chief Thomas Quinlan would “back off” because “he could not successfully implement reform and change “that the mayor wanted.
“Columbus residents have lost faith in him and the Division’s ability to change on their own,” said Ginther in a statement. “Chief Quinlan understood. He agreed to back off so that the city could move forward.”
Quinlan will remain in the Police Division as deputy chief, according to the city.
Ginther said that “the city’s commitment to change and reform will not diminish” in its quest to replace Quinlan, and outlined the steps the city would take to move forward, including the appointment of a Civil Review Board, the selection of an Inspector General and investment in “next generation” body cameras.
“I remain committed to significant and lasting police reform and to tackling racism where it exists, promoting social justice so that everyone in each neighborhood feels safe.”
In his own testimony, Quinlan said that although he hoped to continue in his role, he respected and understood the “need for the community to take a different direction” and said he was proud of what the department had accomplished with him.
“In my three decades of service to Columbus, my commitment has never been to any title or position. It was with this Division and this community that I love, ”he said.
Philadelphia police leadership faces overwhelming report
“I want to make it clear that the mayor and other city leaders, including many community leaders, came to me personally and expressed their continued support,” she said. “I was not asked to resign, nor will I resign due to the report’s findings.”
Although the report criticized several city leaders, it criticized Outlaw’s decision to vacate the post of Homeland Security Inspector since March 2020, a post normally responsible for planning the response to large agglomerations and civil unrest, according to the office of the controller.
“No police commissioner in our city’s history has dealt with as many crises in her first six months of work as she did.”
Evan Simko-Bednarski from CNN contributed to this report.