One of skills we discuss in our School of Statesmanship, Stewardship, and Service is how to design a culture of accountability in either an organization or in a community.
At one time, and annually, the police department in Longmont, Colorado had 125 formal internal affair investigations, many of those complaints from citizens in our community. Accountability in the Longmont PD was top-down characterized by phrases like “How do we hold our police officers accountable?” The internal affairs process was driven by Police Chief’s Office and it was believed that accountability within the department could be gained by ramping up oversight and through legislating policies.
Within a couple of years, the culture within the Longmont Police Department shifted towards emphasizing personal and peer accountability as more effective in designing a culture of accountability than top-down accountability. Conversations changed. Management layers were flattened. All staff were given more responsibility, and in many cases, requisite increases in salary. There were fewer managers and more line-level personnel. As a revealing benchmark, the number of formal internal affair investigations dropped from 125 to fewer than 10 in a year. And complaints from citizens were virtually eliminated.
How did this happen? What occurred within the Longmont Police Department that created a higher level of personal responsibility within the entire staff? How did the internal culture shift? That is what participants attending the School of Statesmanship, Stewardship, and Service will learn.