Jul
4
By Rita Button
"No one should be a victim," is one statement Chief Constable Frank Elsner made during our short, interesting conversation. This basic truth informs his philosophy regarding law enforcement. He is in favour of fixing things before they break, of preventing the crime instead of punishing the would-be criminal, but he is also about the rule of law, for he clearly stated that "some people need to be incarcerated."
The people who require enforced isolation from society's mainstream are those who interfere with the well-being of others, thereby creating victims. Enforcement of the law is strict and unbending, but before the criminal is formed, Chief Elsner would prefer to stop the development and to find ways of "ripping out the cancer so that we can create healthy tissue where the cancer once flourished."
Chief Elsner has a vision of a healthy community where people work together to prevent and solve conflicts.
"How do you do this?" I asked since, to me, the job seems almost too big to handle. Which piece becomes the starter kit?
He asked me if I had read Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury, Penguin, New York (1981), the first book he was required to read when he started his master's degree. Since I had not, he arose-in spite of his temporarily injured ankle-and limped to the cupboard to get it for me. It's what he uses to help him build capacity in neighbourhoods, and to answer my question he said, "You find the common ground. Do we all want healthy communities?" The question is rhetorical. The answer involves discovering which cogs are needed and where they should be placed.
Elsner believes the police force is an important cog in the machine, but it's not the only one. The idea of collaboration and co-operation in his quest to mobilize communities to create healthy environments is his understanding of how communities can be the difference that makes the difference. "We have to stop thinking in silos," he said by way of explaining how various social groups working together would create a dramatic positive impact.
Housing, Health, and Education are three cogs which are also a part of the healthy community machine. By mobilizing communities to discover which areas of the cogs seem inaccessible and to work on creating accessibility, Chief Elsner believes capacity can be built-at first with police and other professionals' help-but finally, if the structure works as people become more able to work with each other as a result of the mentoring, the police and others could turn their attention to the next area of concern, and let the community continue.
In order to affect change, the police force is transforming the way in which they are evaluated. Chief Elsner said, "What gets measured, gets done. And we measure what we value." However, instead of using a counting kind of measure as in "number of arrests, number of speeding tickets given," they are identifying different criteria in measuring public interaction between the police and the community. Evaluation questions follow these lines: Who runs the coffee shop on the corner in your vector? What's his/her first name? What are the three hot spots in your vector? Why are they problems? What are the steps you have taken to mitigate the conflict?
These are some of the ways that Chief Elsner is changing the culture of law enforcement in Victoria-creating a healthy community that will have far-reaching positive consequences. In one of his jobs, Chief Elsner said that he had arrested three generations of the same family. "Obviously, the old ways weren't changing anything. There was no chance of breaking that mold to show a different way of approaching the world and finding our place in it."
The added advantage of community members identifying problem areas and collaborating on solutions is that professionals are then freed to work on more than the one overriding problem. As well, in mobilizing the community, it is possible for the people who live there to take responsibility for some of the initiatives that result in safer communities. For example, people can learn to use laser guns to help educate the public on how fast they are driving. Communities can also create and print leaflets for distribution to highlight a particular issue. Attending meetings and speaking up regarding an issue is another way of creating a healthy community where all can help.
"No one is born a criminal," Chief Elsner said. It's environment-the quality of housing, health, addictions, and education-that influence the developing child to make good or bad choices. If the community is mobilized to work together so that supporting structures are in place, the child will have a greater chance of becoming a happy, actualized person. However, he also believes that the police should continue to be an essential part of the fabric of the community, so that everyone can "get to yes."
Chief Elsner's "Conversations with the Chief" in Fairfield, Burnside and Esquimalt occurred in June. I'm hoping many people attended. Meeting the Chief is a good experience since he is a positive, determined man whose ability to hear what you have to say and act on it is the beginning of lasting change.
Chief Elsner's philosophy hearkens back to the original founder of the Greater London Police Force, Sir Robert Peel who said:
The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
Imagine if all of us would follow this idea.