When the Defund the Police slogan and movement started many swiftly condemned the idea as leading to chaos. The Movement responded that the goal really was for local governments to reallocate resources from traditional policing to community services, notably mental health and drug and alcohol treatment. From my experience and perspective, the Defund the Police Movement underestimates the vital role that police officers already play in trying to assure that people are provided with and access mental health and drug and alcohol treatment, along with other community based services. What most people realize who work with the courts is that many people in serious need of mental health and drug and alcohol services, as well as other services, will not willing access these services, even when readily available for free. This fact is where social workers play a vital role, along with police officers. Every jurisdiction is different, but the following is my perspective on this issue.
For much of my early adulthood, I had limited interaction with social workers and the police, and only a vague idea of what they actually did day to day. I had been the victim of crime many times. From an assault waiting at a bus stop in high school, to having my work van stolen from my driveway, to having my business broken into too many times to count, including three days in a row while I was in law school. Each time I had only limited contact with the police.
Over the last twelve years or so I’ve worked as a criminal defense attorney, Guardian ad Litem for at risk juveniles, and recently as an attorney for our county’s children’s services. In these roles I’ve had many experiences working with, and gotten to know personally, many social workers and police officers.
The social workers I’m talking about work for the local children’s services and help identify struggling families and then assisted those families in accessing services. If the individual family is involved with the court system, the social worker works individually with the family members to try to assure that court ordered services are being initiated and attended. For example, if a family is struggling and involved with the court because the mother or father has untreated mental health issues, the court may order a mental health assessment and to follow all recommendations. The social worker would meet with the family members regularly and help the parent to locate a mental health service provider, initiate and have an assessment completed, and then monitor the parent’s compliance with any recommendations of that assessment, such as attending counseling regularly. There are certainly many other necessary people involved in the process such as the social worker’s supervisor, others in the administration, and the children services attorneys, but all others are there to provide support to the work that the social worker does and the social worker is there to provide support to the family. The social workers role is to help the family address whatever issues that caused the family to struggle.
Importantly, the courts only get involved with a family if the family’s struggles rise to the level at which the children are at serious risk. Every family has struggles from time to time. Every struggle does not warrant court involvement. The exact threshold warranting court involvement is hard to define but a simple example may illustrate the point. A common way that the courts get involved is when a child is born and the newborn tests positive for illegal substances. If the illegal substance is marijuana, that may not warrant court involvement without other factors. If the illegal substance is heroin, that likely would warrant court involvement.
The relation between social workers and the juvenile courts and a probation officer and adult criminal courts are similar. A probation officer, unlike a social worker, only works with individuals once they are involved with the court system. Probation is also called “community control.” The idea is that the court will allow someone who has pled or been convicted of a criminal offence to remain out of the local jail or state prison and in the community, provided the defendant comply with certain conditions of their probation. For example, if someone is convicted of a lower-level drug offence, such as possession, the court could order the defendant to be on probation for one or two years with the condition that the defendant complete drug and alcohol treatment and, very importantly, stay clean. The defendant would then meet with their probation officer on a regular basis and the probation officer would monitor the defendant’s participation in treatment and likely give the defendant random drug screens. If the defendant doesn’t meet with his or her probation officer, doesn’t comply with treatment, or tests positive for illegal drugs, the defendant can be ordered to complete a higher level of treatment, given a longer period under community control, or sent to jail. The probation officer’s role is to assure the defendant addresses whatever issues that caused the defendant to be involved with the courts. In this way the role of a probation officer overlaps at time a social worker’s role. In fact, an order that an adult criminal court can make if the defendant has children is for the defendant to cooperate with children’s services.
Other orders that a court may make that a social worker, or a probation officer, would monitor vary greatly. Along with mental health and drug and alcohol treatment, common orders are that a particular person attend school regularly, get a GED or employment, attain stable and appropriate housing, complete a parenting class, make sure their child attends school or sees a medical professional. The particular conditions are crafted to address the perceived needs of that particular family or individual.
The police officers that I’m referencing are the kind of police officers that respond to calls from residents within the community, as opposed to those that work as detectives, as security, or in more administrative roles. For example, a resident in their home is concerned about loud noises or yelling coming from the next-door neighbor’s home. The resident doesn’t know if it’s simply an argument or goofing around, or something more serious like domestic violence or even a home invasion. The resident calls 911 and dispatch sends the police to the home. One or perhaps a few police officers arrive with the very limited information given by the resident, and perhaps any prior experience or information the police already have about the next-door neighbor. The police officers arrive at the home and immediately try to assess the situation, listening and looking around while also protecting themselves. An officer then approaches and knocks on the door, all the while, again, assessing the situation.
I have read hundreds of reports dealing with such calls. In most cases, the police report will be under ten lines of narrative and the interaction will not lead to an arrest or charges. In most cases, at worse the responding officer will simply admonish the next-door neighbor to refrain from the behavior that caused the call to be made in the first place. Sometimes the officers can’t even determine the basis for the call to dispatch.
In a very small percentage of cases, though, the situation is much more serious. One of the reports that I read that stands out in my mind, was very lengthy and included photos, lab reports, and chronicled many hours of investigation. In that case a couple drug dealers had decided to rob another drug dealer, or “hit a lick.” Unfortunately for all involved, the two went to the wrong home. In the home the two found not a rival drug dealer but a mother and her two young adult sons. One of the home invaders grabbed the mother and one of her sons punched the would-be robber. Shots were fired and the mother and one of the sons were killed and the other son critically wounded. A police officer arriving at that home at that moment would be faced with a number of life or death decisions to be made in an instant. Every officer is aware these types of situations can arise from even the most innocuous calls and is trained to prepare for the worse, even an innocuous house call.
Police officers in their day-to-day activities perform some of the same functions as social workers in that a well-trained officer looks to determine the cause of conflicts and deescalates volatile situations short term. But it is the social worker’s role to help citizens address root causes and access services long term. Often police officers make a referral to children’s services based upon information gathered while fulfilling their other duties. Police officers are even authorized to give temporary custody of a child in dire circumstances to children’s services even though that is not their primary role or training.
In the example above of officers responding to a home because of a report of loud noises or yelling coming from a residence, if an officer sees evidence that young children are being left unattended, that the home is extremely unsanitary or unsafe, or of drug use impacting children in the home, the police officer would likely make a referral to children’s services and a social worker would respond to investigate. In fact, under some circumstances a police officer is required by statute to make a referral and children’s services is required by statute to investigate. While doing their investigation a social worker may request a police officer accompany them, which from my experience is always accommodated.
Defunding the police will not make our communities safer. The role of the social worker in particular and children’s services in general would be much more difficult if not practically impossible without the help of the police. Likewise, the role of the social worker in helping people struggling with mental health or drug and alcohol issues makes the job of the police officer in protecting residents more manageable. Social workers and police officers work together to support each other in making the community safer.