The military does it. World leaders do it. So why can't law enforcement do it? The fact is that a parley can and often does result in conflict resolution. In some cases it may be the only means by which to foil a deadly plot or bring an end to a cycle of violence.
A parley is not a substitute for bringing justice to those responsible for crimes. But it can be an acute solution to an urgent situation. To give an example I'll address a case that I was involved with in Danville, Il while I was still serving as a police sergeant there. From 2006 through 2008 Danville had experienced a rash of violent crimes, from murder to planned attacks on officers. Most of the crimes were gang related and one gang in particular was responsible for most of the activity. They were known as the Motown Stones, a set of the Black P Stones that is based in the Motown neighborhood of Chicago. They had deployed members to Danville to establish a branch there. They set up a flourishing criminal enterprise which included drug trafficking and all sorts of violent crimes. They flew under the radar for years because of the lack of law enforcement officers who were educated on the organization.
When I began training with Denny Davis I asked to be taught about the Stones first because they were the biggest threat to public safety at that time. Denny brought out a 4 inch binder that was full of Stone literature. I began combing through the material page by page and realized for the first time just how sophisticated the organization was. I explained to Denny my concerns about the violence they were inflicting within our community and the need for an immediate solution to stop it. Area law enforcement personnel were not able to get to the inner circle of the organization and, unless the leadership was disrupted, the gang would continue their wave of violence.
In the early stages of my training I did not yet have a rapport with the Stones. Denny, on the other hand, did and volunteered to participate with me in a parley with some gang chiefs in Chicago. Denny suggested that a parley could result in a halt to the violence and terminate plans the gang had to murder police officers.
Before I go further I want to be very clear about something. In no way, shape or form were we going to cut deals with the devil. We would continue to seek justice for those responsible for crimes already committed. We had gathered intelligence about plans for future crimes and knew that law enforcement could not keep pace. The threats were imminent and something needed to be done immediately to stop it.
So on one of my days off Denny and I set out for Chicago to parley with some particular leaders of the organization. Our mission was to make it very clear to the leadership that if the violence continued in Danville we would hold them responsible. We didn't have to explain to them about the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). They were well aware of the act and knew what they were facing if we tied them to organized criminal activity. They assured Denny and I that steps would be taken to bring members of the organization under their control within law.
The parley was quite effective. We saw an immediate change in the climate on the streets. In fact, the parley was the beginning of the end for the Danville branch of the treacherous organization. The branch's leadership was called back to Chicago. The criminal activity slowed and gave law enforcement a chance to get caught up on their investigations. The streets were safer and the violence suppressed. The parley was an obvious success.
A few months after the parley Larry Thomason, the director of public safety for Danville, caught wind of it. You see, I hadn't told him about it for several reasons. First, he wouldn't understand it, he wouldn't have approved it, he wouldn't have joined us and he didn't believe we had a gang problem anyway. So what would have been the point in telling him? Anyway, he asked me about it and I told him what we did. He never said anymore to me about it. Kind of weird I thought but par for the course. He had at one time written a memorandum to the officers stating, in part, that the officers should "take care of the small items first (ordinance violations) and hopefully they stifle the larger ones from occurring." I'm not making this up, that's what he wrote. I have the memo.
My point here is two fold. First, parleys should be utilized when necessary but not be employed as a substitute for prosecution. They are an effective tool which law enforcement should use when a particular situation calls for it. It's not a new idea, it has been around for centuries but many may misunderstand the purpose. No deals are being made with the devil, in fact, by keeping it real with your adversary you make them very aware of what is about to occur. By reading my previous posts it will all make sense. And, secondly, administrators should educate themselves about gangs and be supportive of their officers efforts in fulfilling their mission. Don't stifle progress. Be in touch and encourage sound strategies which lead to safer streets. That was a luxury I did not have in Danville. I had to deal with incompetent administrators which wasted much of the energy I could have expended on the streets.
Finally, I want to say that before you parley know your enemy. Learn everything there is to know about them. Don't walk in blind, it could result in tragedy. Be the shot caller. You dictate but do so with respect or you will get nowhere. Is there a risk? Yes there is. But the risk can be managed and reduced if you know what you're doing. I don't want to give the impression that Denny and I just one day decided to go to the south side of Chicago and meet some gang chiefs. There was much preparation involved and others were aware of what was happening. We didn't act haphazardly. Our moves, actions and words were very calculated and, of course, we were properly prepared if things went bad.
It's like I said before, law enforcement officers are expected to take calculated risks to protect the public. Police work is not for the faint hearted. Officers need to be brave, skillful, smart and dedicated. If they don't have these characteristics they should not be in that line of work.
No comments:
Post a Comment