Reducing Crime

Mike Pooley is the first Native American to lead a municipal police department in Arizona and currently serves as the Apache Junction Police Department's chief. He chats with Jerry Ratcliffe about his upbringing on the Navajo Nation Reservation, his transition to the Phoenix area for better educational opportunities, and his journey into law enforcement, where he spent over 20 years with the Tempe Police Department before becoming the police chief at Apache Junction. Pooley shares insights into the challenges of municipal versus tribal policing, highlighting jurisdictional complexities and the socio-economic disparities between city and reservation areas. The episode also touches on personal stories, including the impact of policing on Pooley's family, including the tragic loss of his sister, a former police officer, to alcoholism, underscoring the toll that the profession can take on individuals and families.

This episode features a conversation between host Jerry Ratcliffe and Police Chief Rich Johnston of the Barrie Police Service in Canada. Chief Johnston, a proponent of evidence-based policing, discusses how this approach has influenced his career and the importance of future police chiefs adopting it. Johnston, who has been a police officer since 1997, has served in various roles within the Barrie Police Service and is recognized for his leadership and contributions to evidence-based policing. He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and two master's degrees, including one from the University of Cambridge. The conversation touches on the differences between Canadian and US policing, with Johnston noting that Canadian policing tends to have a broader public safety focus compared to the more law enforcement-centric approach in the US. Johnston also shares insights on the challenges and benefits of implementing evidence-based practices within his department, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and critical thinking in policing. The episode concludes with a discussion on the significance of visibility in policing and the impact of evidence-based strategies on community trust and safety.

Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore patrol officer turned John Jay professor and author, shares stories from policing and research. He discusses New York's dramatic crime drop, Comstat and organizational change under William Bratton, the evolution of broken windows and public order strategies, and the challenges of writing about policing in a polarized academic climate.

Dr. Obed Magny, former Sacramento police officer and researcher in police leadership, now coaches agencies on emotional intelligence. He explains what emotional intelligence means for policing. He shares practical de-escalation tactics used on domestic calls. He discusses EQ training gaps, leadership signals that shape culture, and ways to build EQ with assessment and coaching.

Chuck Tyree has served with New York State’s Division of Criminal Justice Service for over a decade and currently supervises programs in their Office of Public Safety. He oversees the Gun-Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, as well as manages grant-funded programs, coordinates statewide technical assistance, and facilitates research into evidence-based policing strategies. In this wide-ranging chat with Jerry Ratcliffe, they cover everything from mental health during man-made and natural disasters to the state’s gun and intimate partner violence initiatives.

Ben Bradford is Professor of Global City Policing at University College London, where he is Director of the Centre for Global City Policing. He chats to Jerry Ratcliffe about police legitimacy, his research on what people want from the police, and what law enforcement leaders need to know about improving trust in policing.

Jeremy Wilson is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice and the Founding Director of the Police Staffing Observatory at Michigan State University. Before that, he was a Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation. His chat with host Jerry Ratcliffe covers police recruitment, what is wrong with so many operational allocation models, and how the world of police staffing is changing.

Matt Bland is the Chief Operating Officer of the Society of Evidence-Based Policing, and an associate professor with the Police Executive Programme at the University of Cambridge. Prior to that, Dr. Bland spent a decade and a half with Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies, in a range of intelligence and crime analyst roles. We talk about his background as police analyst, the state of EBP, and how many divorces are required to be a serious organized crime detective.

Nola Joyce is a highly accomplished civilian policing professional who has served in leadership roles with the police departments of Chicago, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia where she held the rank of Deputy Commissioner. She is now a Partner and Principal Consultant for 21CP Solutions. In Chicago she helped implement the famous CAPS community policing program, and then in Philadelphia, she was instrumental in designing and evaluating key policing initiatives, such as the Philadelphia Foot Patrol Experiment and Philadelphia Policing Tactics Experiment. Her chat with host Jerry Ratcliffe discusses the role of civilian staff in policing, their mentorship and development, and the support they bring to police leaders. She emphasized the importance of balancing innovative ideas with relevance and acceptance from frontline officers.

Stacey Rothwell is the director of innovation action across seven police forces leading ERIN, the Eastern Region Innovation Network in the UK. After a career as a sworn officer, including as a detective in financial investigation, she returned in a civilian role, pioneering the innovative use of rapid video response in domestic violence cases. She chatted to Jerry Ratcliffe at the Somers Town Coffee House to discuss her career and the challenges of getting an experiment in rapid video response up and running.