Died in the Wool Texas City native, incoming Chief Joe Stanton dropped by Rotary Tuesday to share his vision for the Texas City P.D. moving forward and to explain a little about the structure of the department and how that works.
With approximately 115 employees under his purview – 85 officers and 30 civilians -Chief Stanton puts tremendous emphasis on empowerment, delegation and accountability. The Assistant Chief, three Captains, four Lieutenants, and eight Sargent’s serve as his reach over tho0se 115 people charged with preventing crime and disorder in our city.
Chief Stanton’s philosophy is built around Transparency, Accountability and Accessibility. This approach allows him, as Chief to ensure that the work being done by this police force is what the community wants to see. He was quite frank about the militaristic trends in current policing and the concerns many communities have over the level of violence in responding to police calls. In order to abide by these principles, in our current climate, “the police have to change” He outlined those four principles his department has adopted that were established late in the 1800’s by Sir Robert Peel, considered to be the Father of Modern Policing. These principles defined the ethical requirements every police officer must honor to be effective. They are:
- The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder
- The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions
- Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public
- The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force
Quite simply, Peel believed that “The police are the public and the public are the police.” In order to do that Chief Stanton believes that moving toward more non-lethal devices is critical. And his belief in transparency, accountability and accessibility starts “one handshake at a time.”
We are all aware that these are extremely challenging times for individuals that choose policing as a career. The number of quality individuals that seek out that career path has diminished over the years, largely because of those challenges. It is a noble path and not suited to most of us, but there is something genuinely rewarding about being a part of a forward thinking, progressive organization that is fortunate to have the support and appreciation of its city government and its community.
This may well seem like an opportunity for those in the criminal justice field to step up and truly make a difference as they struggle to find better ways to support and keep communities safe and well informed. If this is a career path you or someone you know is considering, Texas City is fortunate to have an excellent police training program at our own College of The Mainland. It is definitely a way to make a significant difference in an environment that stands ready to be a large part of the solution.
