EDITORIAL: Evolution in policing
January 03, 2021 04:51PM
Should police departments in Connecticut increasingly look to social workers to respond to calls for help that come to police dispatchers in situations when their training and experience might be more appropriate than those of a uniformed and armed police officer?
It’s an idea well worth exploring, and the police reform bill that was passed by the General Assembly last summer calls for departments to seriously consider some way of providing less confrontational and more therapeutic policing. Ideas are already being tried here and there: in New Haven and Denver, for example.
Part of the idea is that someone who’s placing a 911 call is almost automatically going to be stressed out and overwrought, and may well have mental health issues. In such cases, the arrival of a police officer may in itself be intimidating and lead to escalation.
Should social workers ride with police? This Connecticut woman does
Kathy Evans of West Hartford now works with the Denver police as a clinical social worker. She rides with police and responds to calls where often her expertise is more valuable than the traditional tools of a police officer.
Each workday morning at 6 a.m., Katharine “Kathy” Evans turns out for roll call at the Denver police department, to hear about overnight incidents, trends, announcements, plans for the day.
She then hops into a police car to begin a 12-hour shift. Her partner for the day is a patrol officer. She, however, does not wear a badge or carry a gun. She is a licensed clinical social worker.
Mark Raimo has plans to hire the next crony â the Chief of Police.
During the December 7 Town Council meeting, Town Manager Raimo said that only current Watertown Police Department employees could apply for the chief of police position. The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) would vet the applicants and select the best ones for Raimo to interview. When filling the Deputy Chief position two years ago, the job was open to external candidates, and we hired the very capable Joshua Bernegger from Naugatuck.
In view of the small pool of eligible Police Chief candidates, CPCA will likely select Raimoâs crony of choice as someone Raimo could interview.Â