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Facing History and Ourselves
Bill Johnston, the former deputy superintendent of the Boston Police Department,
would be glad to hear how the relationship between Ramirez and Morales has improved
over the years. But he probably would not be surprised. That's because Johnston is
an avid believer that by examining their personal histories, individuals can access
the tools they need to build more caring communities.
Johnston says that analyzing the events of recent social history, such as the Civil
Rights Movement, can help police officers to discover the motivation and strength
they need to advocate for what they think is just. "Picture again those photos
of police officers holding leashes. At the end of the leashes were German Shepherd
dogs being turned on citizens who were trying to exercise their rights under the
Constitution."
According to Johnston, although these officers were practicing neighborhood policing
because they were acting on the will of the white majority, they were doing it wrong.
Johnston says that to do neighborhood policing right, officers need to develop the
moral courage to contest the morality of their colleagues and communities.
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We are helping officers learn how to make good decisions to protect people's civil
rights. Otherwise the Constitution doesn't mean a thing. |
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Years ago Johnston recognized
what he considered to be a great problem: new recruits coming to the Boston Police
Academy had no sense of the past. That's why, upon retiring from the Boston Police
Department, he joined the staff of an organization called Facing History and Ourselves
and tried to forge a solution.
Facing History is based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Each year more than half a million
middle and high school students grapple with issues of identity, peer pressure and
moral decision-making, by studying the Facing History curriculum. Students of Facing
History examine the demise of the Weimar Republic in pre-World War II Germany, in
order to understand how a country that had one of the most democratic constitutions
ever written could become a fascist, genocidal state.
Johnston and other Facing History staff members collaborated on the development of
a three-day program for new police recruits. In 1996, the Facing History program
was integrated into the curriculum at the Boston Police Academy.
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Jimmie Jones is the Director of
Police and Community Programming at Facing History. Jones explains that the Facing
History program for Boston police asks officers to analyze the history of law enforcement
in their city and in nations worldwide.
"We look at what happened in Germany in 1938 when officers were told 'When you
see a synagogue burning, don't stop it and don't arrest the people who set it on
fire," he says. "We look at Bosnia where they're trying to form a multi-ethnic
police force, but they hate each other."
"And we look at South Africa," says Jones, "where the officers had
to enforce Apartheid. We are talking about supposedly democratic societies where
the cultures allowed police to do things that were unlawful and violated people's
civil rights."
The focus of the Facing History's work with police is on moral decision-making. Instructors
trained by Facing History lead recruits to explore difficult questions such as, "What
will you do if you disagree with the laws you are instructed to enforce?" and
"What do the terms 'loyalty' and 'integrity' really mean?"
Facing History is now replicating its Boston-based work in other police departments
across the country. As a result, new recruits nationwide are beginning to think more
critically about the complex relationships between communities and police.
"At two in the morning, when there are no judges, lawyers or supreme court justices
on the streets, the police officers represent the Constitution of the United States,"
says Jones. "We are helping officers learn how to make good decisions to protect
people's civil rights. Otherwise, the Constitution doesn't mean a thing."
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