For better policing, start with empathy

A Chicago Police Department officer pulls a man into a bear hug when the man was almost struck by a vehicle during a street takeover in August 2022, where hundreds gathered to watch cars drift in circles. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a presentation at the Chicago Police Academy about five years ago that addressed efforts to reform the culture of the Chicago Police Department. The presenters were longtime CPD officers who had been working with their peers over a long period with assistance from clinicians and researchers.

What sticks with me to this day is the parallel they presented between the problems police officers encountered in Chicago communities and the issues they dealt with among their peers and in their personal lives. They had found a connection between these problems and the culture of CPD.