I was getting a lot of feedback that the department needed me to promote; that I could do more good on a greater scale as a lieutenant; that lesser quality candidates would be my boss. 

The problem was that I couldn’t see to believe that I’d be more effective, or more influential, as a lieutenant. To the contrary, actually. 

As a sergeant, I was still connected to my first love in law enforcement — being a cop, and being with cops, in the field. I was seeing the public, and the issues of public safety, first hand.

I was also hearing the interests, needs, and concerns of our cops directly from the source. I could see our resource efficiencies and deficiencies. And I was using current events and social issues to develop suggestions for internal policy changes, public messaging ideas, and real solutions to actual problems. 

So I tried to find ways to bridge that gap between wanting to make a real difference, while continuing to do the work that I find is most valuable to me, and to the community overall.

When I couldn’t find a way to build that bridge within my department, I decided to see how far I could get on my own.

My first priority as a sergeant is taking care of our cops. We are outnumbered 1 to 1,000s every day. The grind never stops. The stress never stops. The hours, the drama, the micro-traumas, the endless supply of tasks and asks — these would take a toll on anyone working in any industry.

An added weight comes with the invisible friction of public distrust and malaise. It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, how well you communicate the justification for what you do, how quietly and intently you listen to someone who has been programmed to despise you on sight. When the public doesn’t believe in the legitimacy and the authority of police, the framework falls around us all.

The Legitimacy Model is an attempt to gain clarity on the fundamental actions an agency can take to start rebuilding legitimacy amongst the members of their community, and within the officers who serve them everyday.

The ultimate goal is to help law enforcement agencies meet the real, expressed needs of the public, by providing officers with every resource they need to do their jobs effectively, and the data to back it all up.

The Legitimacy Model prioritizes meeting the core function of policing: responding to calls for help. While an integral part of this function is making sure officers are equipped with the staffing and resources they need to do their job, this also takes into account how community partnerships and supporting job roles can support this mission.

From there, it takes a critical look at the activities officers do which are often summarized generically as ‘police work,’ so they can understand their effectiveness and how to best apply them as solutions in the field.

Finally, it reconsiders transparency, but with a much wider lens. Citizen review boards, academic partnerships, and authoritative media strategies are reworked as ways to gain a real understanding of public safety issues and promote meaningful cooperation, while positioning law enforcement as an authoritative partner in the overall landscape of public safety.

This is a work in progress, and a labor of love. Though I don’t have the accolades of command staff, or retired chiefs who often take on these roles, I am still in the field and invested in this profession, which may mean just as much, if not more.

To the men and women in law enforcement, and to the communities we strive to protect and serve, this is for you.