(This article first appeared in the December print edition of the Hendersonian.)
Henderson and southern Indiana authorities collaborated recently in something the agencies strive to do well—community policing.
The Henderson Police Department, the Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office together taught a class on the topic at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference Oct. 19-22 in Boston.
“We had people from all over the world at this conference,” said HPD Chief Billy Bolin.
The IACP is attended by roughly 15,000 officers from policing agencies across the U.S. and other countries, including Armenia, Australia, Ireland, Italy, France, Bermuda, Albania and Peru, according to the IACP website.
“This convention is such a big one that in years past President Trump and President Obama attended,” he said. “This year, the current FBI director was in attendance. There are a lot of heavy hitters who show up.”
That being said, the class taught by Bolin, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson, EPD Chief Phil Smith and EPD’s Special Projects Coordinator Taylor Merriss drew more than 300 attendees.
“The class was two-fold,” Bolin said. “First, we gave several examples of community policing projects which agencies conduct in this area. Second, we show that agencies can get along with each other.”
From his experience, “the types of classes I like are when I can take away an idea and go back to my community and implement it. That’s why we try to bombard them with ideas for community policing.”
As for showing intra-agency cooperation, HPD’s chief said, “There are so many communities in which the sheriff and the police chief don’t get along or the agencies don’t get along. We try to show that there are communities in which the sheriff’s department and police department are working closely.”
Bolin said he and Henderson County Sheriff Chip Stauffer started out together in the mid-90s at HPD, and have maintained a good professional relationship and strong personal acquaintance. “We have always worked well together,” he said.
During his stint as chief in Evansville, the police department and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office worked well together.
“Now that I’m across the river, in another state, EPD, under Chief Smith, the sheriff’s office and HPD are all working really closely,” he said. “Profiling the benefit of agency cooperation was a huge part of our class.”
HPD’s community policing endeavors include Cops Connecting with Kids, the Cops and Kids shopping trip, 911 Gives Hope, a police camp for young people and Coffee with a Cop.
• Cops Connecting with Kids is an annual and sometimes biannual trip to Disney World for a handful of deserving young people. Law enforcement not only raise the funds for the trip, but chaperone it as well.
• Cops and Kids is the annual Christmas shopping spree in which children chosen by the various school resource centers shop with law enforcement officers for warm clothes, hygiene products and a few Christmas gifts.
• 911 Gives Hope Toy Drive is an event in which toys are collected for children spending the holidays in the hospital.
• HPD’s law enforcement camp for school-aged children was held at the Brain Injury Adventure Camp in Robards. Young people get to know police officers, and experience activities such fishing, zip-lining and participate in mock traffic stops, as well as other law enforcement scenarios.
• Coffee with a Cop is a chance for members of the community to sit down with an officer and talk about areas of concern or improvement opportunities.
“We and communities all over the country stole that idea from Hawthorne, California. Officer Chris Cognac initiated Coffee with a Cop,” Bolin said. “Now roughly, 40,000 communities are holding Coffee with a Cop.”
Bolin said floating the various ideas to agency representatives and showing the value of community policing, “is the basis of the class.”
“Any one of these ideas, if you see a department doing something good, steal it and make it your own to try to build connections in your community,” he said. “There are so many things that departments can do, but if you can take just one back home … That’s the gist of the class.”
EPD Officer Taylor Merriss, who co-taught the community policing program at the IACP conference, said the class is a great exchange of ideas among agencies.
“I whole-heartedly believe, (area police agencies) are leaps and bounds ahead of other departments in terms of our community engagement and activities,” she said. “However, I’ve been able to implement a lot of great things from other agencies. In the past couple of years, it seems that my main focus is inclusivity. How can we be more inclusive? How can we reach different populations? How do we meet people where they are? Those are my focuses and main takeaways from these conferences.”
Merris said she believes community policing lends itself to more respect between citizens and authorities.
“I am a resident of this city,” she said. “I know what I expect out of my police department and what I want to see from them. If I felt I couldn’t have a good relationship with police officers serving my city, it would really make me question that agency as a whole.
“Being present, available and transparent are how you build that community presence and trust,” Merris said.
In fact, it’s frequent community engagements through which Merris can mentor young people—at least one of whom is planning to become a police officer.
“I wouldn’t say it’s always my ‘goal’ to hear young men or young women say they want to be like me, a police officer, one day,” Merriss said. “I get more fulfillment out of hearing young people say, ‘You changed the way I think or have heard about police officers.’
“We are in a prime digital age—from national news to Tik-Tok. In those spaces the narrative isn’t always favorable toward law enforcement, and sometimes rightfully so,” she said. “I truly believe we have great agencies here in the Tri-State, and I want to share that with everyone. I want that to become the narrative, at least locally. So, if I can change one (young person’s) perspective of law enforcement then I’ve reached my goal.”
Bolin said that much like Merriss, he’s been most affected by mentoring programs such as Cops Connecting with Kids.
“I learned so much about the kids we’re serving out here. Sometimes you see the gruff exterior of a kid, and you think you know them or understand them. However, getting to know them on the (Disney) trip, and learning about them, their families, and the situation they’re growing up in, it helps you understand more of why these kids have the gruff exterior that they do.
“We go home to nice houses with three meals a day, and a lot of these kids don’t get that. They have to figure out where to get breakfast in the morning because they have an addicted parent, or they have a single mom and don’t have the money … life is tough for them. It’s good for us as officers to remember that so many of the people we are serving, life has thrown them a curve ball they couldn’t help. That’s been my biggest learning experience,” he said.
Bolin said breaking down barriers and changing perspectives is why community policing is invaluable.
“Many law enforcement agencies would say they participate in some form of community policing. However, there are those departments which still don’t see the need,” he said.
“I think most of us really buy into it, but you get some agencies where you get that stoic, ‘This is stupid. We’re not doing this,’” he said, adding that, in his opinion, the region of the country in which a department is located can play a role in its attitude toward community policing.
While trips and events are tools police departments can use, Bolin said community policing can be done every day in small ways.
“The absolute No. 1 community policing element is the patrol officer, out on the beat every day,” he said. “That officer waving at a kid or handing out stickers. Keeping a little football or basketball in the trunk, and when you’re not busy, throwing the football or shooting hoops with neighborhood kids. If it’s snowing, throw snowballs … That’s the environment we’re trying to encourage here.
“I’ve seen officers fill up little plastic eggs with candy at Easter and hand them out,” he said. “It’s the simple things that build relationships. I think we do a good job of that here. Could we do better? Sure. But by in large, we do a good job.”
