Virtues Known, Must Be Sought

Sun., March 15, 1998

Carol Macpherson For The Editor

Whether you loved him or hated him, Terry Mangan is gone.

So, instead of rehashing road rage incidents or the national attention given to the COPS program, let’s move to the task at hand.

Wanted: Police chief.

The right candidate must believe in the Citizens Review Commission and its need for independence to examine complaints against police officers. The new chief must be committed to making this process work. This is essential for building trust in a city that has struggled for five years to come up with an effective oversight board for the Police Department.

The public must be confident that an officer who violates a citizen’s rights will be held accountable and that the city’s top cop won’t stand in the way of the process.

The new chief must be open with the community and the media. The new chief must realize that an informed citizen is a safer and more supportive citizen, and acknowledge the public’s right to know. Mangan clashed often with reporters who wanted to tell the whole story about his department’s work. But the best way for a chief to get the “good press” Mangan demanded is simply to run a fine department and communicate frankly about its work, including its problems and efforts to correct them. Often, crimes are solved as a result of strong communication between investigators and the community.

The city has taken a good first step by holding two brainstorming sessions with citizens to come up with qualities they want to see in the new chief.

Citizens working with City Manager Bill Pupo and the city’s hiring committee offered these requirements:

The new chief should be a forward thinker,

should believe in the city’s Community Oriented Policing program,

should establish high internal standards for officers,

should be able to acknowledge failure,

should fight against racism,

should be able to interact with diverse groups in the city.

And of course, the chief ought to be a strong leader able to keep the department effective at its central job: public safety.

The hiring committee, which includes representatives from Spokane neighborhoods and organizations, will use the information to evaluate candidates during interviews, Pupo said.

“Each idea is valuable. We will consider all of them,” Pupo said.

Rather than merely consider them, Pupo should insist on them. Spokane has a chance to move into a new era of openness and trust between law enforcement and citizens. Find the brave, creative, honest, even-tempered person who can make it happen.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Carol MacPherson For the editorial board

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