Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture by Neil Gross

Walk the Walk: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture Reviews

• 
  Mai

  I greatly enjoyed this introspective look into three police departments across the US. The chiefs sound tired, overworked, and often annoyed at the goings on they're supposed to take charge on. While I empathize, I am a staunch believer in a smaller police force and more funding into education and other social matters.
  
  🎧 NetGalley
• 
  Peter Tillman

  NY Times review:
  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/bo...
  Excerpt:
  "Good chiefs know when to push, and when to tread lightly. They introduce incremental reforms, instead of forcing change before officers are ready for it — and as departments become more open to change, those incremental reforms can start adding up. When we get more community engagement by the police, more willingness to ease up on traffic stops for trivial offenses, more alternatives to incarceration and more efforts to recruit a diverse work force, things get better for these communities. There are fewer police abuses, fewer arrests — and fewer crimes.
  
  Gross organizes his book around three case studies: Stockton, Calif.; Longmont, Colo.; and LaGrange, Ga. In some ways, the three towns could hardly be more different, but each had the benefit, Gross says, of the kind of dedicated, imaginative police chief every department needs.
  
  In Stockton, Chief Eric Jones embraced the concept of “procedural justice,” an approach to policing that emphasizes transparency, fairness, impartiality and a willingness to give citizens a voice. He supported officers as they developed a new procedural justice training program; he established a community advisory board and arranged trust-building workshops with police critics. But he also won his officers’ trust by listening to their concerns. He obtained funding for costly new equipment, and took care to foster good relationships with the police union. ...."
  
  Published late March 2023. Maybe?
• 
  Alex Gruenenfelder

  As someone who has been organizing for police reform for years, and even ran a mayoral campaign here in Los Angeles with that as a predominant focus, I was fascinated to read this book. Written by a police officer who became a social sciences academic, it follows his own experience with deescalation and brings that into a wider conversation with reform-minded progressive police chiefs. I got through this book in less than a day, following the stories of people who pursued policing specifically to make it better.
  
  Racial disparities are just one factor in the "compassionate policing" framework that could improve the way that we do law enforcement. The author positively describes policies including harm reduction and restorative justice from a police perspective, a concept that I have thought about before and yet never seen. There are also very lively narratives involving crime busts and action-packed arrests in this book, so it isn't all focused on the detailed procedural and change-based aspects of policing. I recommend this book to organizers and those pursuing a career in law enforcement in particular, but also more broadly to an engaged public that wants to see more solutions than what the media generally offers us.
• 
  Esha Kamra

  It’s refreshing to read examples of good policing, and leaders who are doing the work to build strong relationships between the police and their communities, fostering good policing culture and emphasizing democratic and just policing. It also doesn’t resort to extreme solutions that are likely unattainable, instead pushing for reform of systems we currently have, stating that “…you can’t have social justice without criminal justice because no one prospers without public safety…but unequal law enforcement is no justice at all.” This book also shows the multitude of different cultures within American society, and how reform is not necessarily one-size-fits-all. Good policing reflects its community. Thanks to Alex Gruenenfelder for putting this book on my radar.
• 
  Erikka

  I am a die hard police abolitionist (and yes, we can live without police, they've only been around since 1838. We're just stuck in one place mentally as a society. Don't get me started.), but I'm also reasonable enough to know that you have to build and reform an existent system until it either replaces itself with something better or there is a substitute ready to step in after its decline. We cannot live happily in a police vacuum, nor in a police state. During this transition period, however, there are some FANTASTIC ideas in this book.
  
  The first great idea discussed is procedural justice. Basically, cops stop being dicks and start treating humans as humans. It's a lot more elaborate than that, but it works for Stockton, CA and it should be common sense to apply it in all law enforcement agencies.
  
  The second idea is community intervention. Police respond to police things while there are community organizations that deal with issues better left out of police control. Drug issues, mental health crises, assisting the homeless, anything that can be solved by restorative justice practices, and especially prurient to my life, juvenile justice. Why are we letting police send our children to jail when a swift kick in the proverbial pants by a mentor or guiding figure could set them on a better long-term course? It's madness.
  
  The finally idea, and possibly the best one for quick and efficient rollout, is increased training. And I don't mean put your judgmental racist ass in a chair and doodle while someone "rattles on" about how you're a judgmental racist. I mean literally sit there, learn from someone, and make sure it is being applied in department policy and procedures with the risk of punitive measures or termination if it is not applied. We cannot let cops continue to get away with everything--by creating trainings for implicit bias, de-escalation, and non-violent control measures AND IMPLEMENTING THEM THOROUGHLY, we can change the face of policing until it is time to fully orchestrate a societal switch from punitive policing to one of community minded alternatives.
  
  While I occasionally found this book apologist, which didn't set right, and the conclusion implied that none of us can see a USA without policing (au contraire, there are literally entire national organizations spearheading a movement towards abolition. We do NOT all agree that police should continue to exist.), he does indicate actual problems that need dealt with and did a fastidious amount of research to offer suggested fixes. I can respect that and get behind that. Finally, I found the personal stories of various cops to be occasionally long-winded, but I see what he was trying to achieve and I can give it a pass. I would have preferred more tangible suggestions over stories about the good old days, but if it gets people to relate to the concepts better, go the story route.
• 
  J Earl

  Walk the Walk by Neil Gross offers a look at what policing could be by looking at three departments where change for the better has started.
  
  I will preface my comments with my general stand on police. I am generally an abolitionist, thinking a very limited, if still present, police force is the best ultimate goal. That said, no change can be complete and immediate, alternatives have to be established and functional as we step away from our current state of police being more like the paramilitary arm of a white supremacist government. If what I think would be a better society is to ever exist, there will have to be many incremental steps. I think this book offers some hope for how we can work toward a better society without having to take an all or nothing stand on either a paramilitary force or immediate abolition.
  
  What I found most interesting here was the look at how difficult it can be to make even the smallest and most humane changes to a system that largely relies on giving maximum power to many people who are not even remotely prepared emotionally or intellectually to wield such power. To the point where even the "good" officers become "bad" by simply keeping quiet about what they know. Once a couple of first steps are made, however, it becomes easier for everyone, from the officers themselves to those they are supposedly serving and protecting, to work toward making everyone safer and more secure in their everyday lives.
  
  I would recommend this to those who care about how to make change, whether your ultimate goal is a still large but more compassionate police force or the abolition of what we now think of as a police force. Change has to be incremental and any move toward solving problems rather than just locking people up needs to be seriously considered, especially in places where it seems to be working.
  
  Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
• 
  Shirley Kingery

  This was a fascinating book, which I honestly had trouble putting down. Given the subject matter, I was not expecting to be nearly so interested in it. Not that I don't care about the subject; just that I didn't really think it could make such good reading and pull me into it the way it did.
  
  Walk the Walk is very well written and thoroughly researched with numerous references. The author is a former police officer and leading sociologist. In this book he describes three police departments across the country whose Chiefs have made many positive changes to policing through a variety of progressive and markedly different methods, not the least of which is accountability. My use of the word progressive may be misleading, as one of the Police Chiefs is a staunch Republican, Trump supporter and does not believe training to be the root problem of policing in the U.S.
  
  How these three men, these three vastly different Police Chiefs, turned their vastly different Police Departments into forces that practice empathy, non-violence whenever possible and racial equity is an absolutely compelling, extremely interesting story. My respect for these three men and their officers that follow the procedures implemented is immense.
  
  I highly recommend this book to everyone, particularly, of course, to Americans; who need to understand that this divided country must come to some agreement on policing. The book gives us some history on the troubled course of policing in the U.S. It explains the police culture that is nearly universal in America and the tragic outcomes that culture has led to. From what seems a hopeless scenario, we watch as three departments have performed what to me seems to be magic--running a humane, professional, accountable Police Department. My thanks to the author for a very informative book that allows us to glimpse some hope in resolutions to the policing dilemma.
• 
  Rachelle

  As an ordinary community member, I found this to be an informative, interesting, helpful, and engaging introduction to the problems faced by law enforcement organizations and their community. Gross, author, sociologist, and former cop, balances contemporary theories and current and past data with stories of many individuals across three organizations.
  
  He seems neither eager to excuse or support bad behavior nor to do away with needed support law enforcement can provide, instead recognizing pragmatic needs and challenges rather than remaining in theoretical spaces. His stories really anchor his points in this way. Enlightening readers to many approaches to reform and a variety of ways some reforms can backfire, the book serves to educate people "without a horse in the race" on real issues in a manner driven by research from both the physical field and the academic one.
  
  I found it to be fascinating and humanizing of an issue that feels so politically charged. I also appreciate the attention he gives to the role of many community services who work in tandem with law enforcement to provide safety, reduce substance abuse, aid those in violent domestic situations, address poverty and joblessness, especially in people with records, etc. I just don't think I can wrap my head around all the areas law enforcement might be needed and the areas where they need cooperation and support.
  
  I feel more able listen to discussion on the topic and think further about it. (I'd also be lying if I said I didn't tuck away some of the de-escalation and reconciliation tactics away for another time in the classroom.) Great book!
• 
  Hamlen

  This is a curious read. It's excellent when it reads as an ethnography chronicling the thoughts and actions of several police chiefs, officers and detectives. How's er, the author couldn't stop himself from adding his woke commentary on their observations. I'll give him credit for keeping that to a level that allowed me to finish the book.
  
  He did state that social justice can't be achieved without criminal justice to support public safety. So, he's trying to accomplish balance.
  
  He did bring up the sociology of "collective memory" as it pertains to police departments. (There are some references to more material on that subject in the footnotes.) He identified how this can be negative when departments are stuck in outmoded or ineffective procedures. He also talked around the real solution to institutional inertia without identifying it by name - continuous improvement.
  
  I was disappointed that he was unable to see that the communities he was presenting as historically put upon also have a collective memory. Their collective memory needs to be dealt with at the same time to arrive at improved policing in the country. He hints at this in the section concerning Lagrange GA but couldn't quite pull it into focus.
• 
  Wisconsin Alumni

  Neil Gross MS’96, PhD’02
  Author
  
  From the author:
  An examination of three unusual police departments — in Stockton, CA; Longmont, CO; and LaGrange, GA — whose chiefs signed on to replace aggressive policing culture with something better, using models focused on equity before the law, social responsibility, racial reconciliation, and the preservation of life. Informed by research, unflinching, and by turns gripping, tragic, and inspirational, this book follows the chiefs, officers, and detectives as they conjure a new spirit of policing.
  
  
• 
  Samhl

  This book, written by a former cop who is now a sociologist, profiles three municipalities’ police departments who are attempting to change police culture from a militaristic “us vs them” mentality to a more community based perspective. Combining facts and figures along with interviews and case reports, the author lays out a convincing argument that training officers to approach everyone with respect, placing an emphasis on procedural and restorative justice, and developing community partnership with police departments would lead to better criminal justice outcomes and lower crime rates.
• 
  Samm Ellingson

  This was really helpful for me to hear from officers who want to be officers for the right reasons: true justice, hope, real peace and fighting not just against systemic racism, or violence in the streets but genuine care for the people who are choosing evil and pain and darkness. The book helped me to see how they want to create change in a way that care the perpetrators out of crime, not just jail them for it.
  
  Definitely not for everyone but it was good for me. I liked it
• 
  Aimee Wilson

  The book explores what three police departments have done to improve their engagement with the public. It was interesting to hear what worked for some and to learn about what resistance they confronted with the police force and how others embraced the changes. Reform is needed at many police departments and hopefully others may follow the lead of others.
• 
  Freddie

  I was hoping they would be more substance to this book and that the author would have more constructive thoughts on policing.
• 
  Dani Bryant

  Tomato tomato *fart sound*. Good attempt, bad result
• 
  Sarah McLeeson

  Such a good book!! It’s awesome to hear that cops are interesting in change and development
• 
  Audrey

  Is there a better way to police society? These three Police Chiefs and their departments believe a better way is possible. A perfect way, no, but a better way.