Can Racially Biased Police Practices Be Fixed?
An Interview with Chief Renée Hall
Chief Renée Hall is a respected thought leader who is recognized for her 21st century leadership experience regarding community policing with over 20 years of service. She served most recently as chief of police for the Dallas Police Department, leading a 4,000-member, $500 million dollar law enforcement agency. She is the first woman ever to lead this organization. Previously Chief Hall served in the Detroit Police Department, eventually becoming Deputy Chief in 2014. She is also a 2022 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, and currently serves as a Senior Editor of the Harvard University Social Impact Review Journal.
Kevin Robinson: We would love to hear your personal story? Why did you decide to attend Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative program?
Chief Renée Hall: I was born and raised in the city of Detroit. The product of a single strong black mother, who raised three successful children while working in the automotive industry (General Motors). My father, a police officer in Detroit, was killed in the line of duty in 1971 at age 27. I was only 6 months old at the time. This tragedy left my family broken and was also an example of the tumultuous relationships between the police and the black community. There was never any information provided regarding his murder. To date, my father’s murder remains unsolved.
My life’s mission has been centered around building and repairing community relationships by creating strong partnerships in what I describe as “A Race for Change.”
Although law enforcement was not my first love, it became my passion. I joined the Detroit Police Department in 1999 after completing coursework for my first graduate degree and rose to the rank of Deputy Chief within 14 years. It was through the creation of mentor programs with Big Brothers Big Sisters that focused on children with incarcerated parents, and community service and engagement requirements for all officers graduating from the police academy that provided the spark, fuel, and energy for the race toward change.
In 2017, the city of Dallas conducted a national search to locate an innovative leader to address issues of morale, reduce crime, and rebuild community partnerships. I was subsequently selected and served as the 29th Police Chief and the first woman to ever hold the position in its 136-year history. I served 3.5 years transforming the Dallas Police Department into one of the most efficient 21st Century Police Departments.
After leaving law enforcement, I felt that there was so much more to do. The death of George Floyd catapulted community distrust and left law enforcement polarized and politicized.
As a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) was recommended to me as an opportunity to create social impact and do “more.” I chose to address crime and poverty through intergenerational wealth building.
Robinson: In your experience describe the origins of the tensions between effective policing and the incidents of violence committed in/against African Americans by certain police departments that we continue to witness?
Hall: The discourse between African American communities and police has existed since the first iteration of organized policing, Slave Patrols. These aggressive methods were prevalent in law enforcement well into the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. The brutality and ruthlessness of enforcement, strongly resembles the deployment methods we utilize today. Although there have been many positive changes within policing to change the system through training and community engagement; there are remnants of the past permeating within police culture that is impacted by race and racism. This dynamic often convolutes and diminishes the effectiveness of policing strategy.
Every police leader’s success is determined by their ability to reduce violent crime, specifically homicide. These crimes are higher and more prevalent in the African American community and communities of color. In an effort to achieve their goals of crime reduction, aggressive deployment strategies, termed Hot Spot Policing, Place Based Enforcement and Directed Patrols, are implemented. Though these enforcement strategies statistically render a decrease in the number incidents of violent crime, deploying the methods without addressing race and racism within the culture of policing is resulting in increased numbers of police – community incidents of violence.
We must examine the words “effective policing” and question whether or not these historical/traditional methods that are being deployed, are appropriate or effective considering the history of African Americans.
Robinson: In your experience what are the most effective mechanisms in addressing those historical tensions?
Hall: To move forward and improve community- police relationships it is essential to have open and honest discussions, acknowledging and owning the history of law enforcement in America. Understanding the history and its lingering vestiges is intricate in finding solutions. Diversity in hiring ensures that police departments are reflective of their communities. Soliciting community input/recommendations, and where feasible, make the adjustments in departmental policies and procedures.
Robinson: One particular mechanism thought to bring greater transparency to policing are Civilian Review Boards that monitor and report on police departments. Explain the theory here, and share any experience you have had with Civilian Review Boards? Does this work in particular to help reduce racially biased practices/violence against African American individuals/communities? Why/why not?
Hall: Civilian Review Boards, or often referred to as Civilian Oversight, is a form of civilian participation in reviewing government activities, most commonly accusations of police misconduct. Review boards have been implemented to improve community trust in police and date back to the early 1900’s. They allow a bird’s eye, impartial, unbiased view into use of force and misconduct investigations. Investigations are conducted by/in conjunction with the oversight agency and does not rely solely on investigators from within the police department. Review boards have proven successful in increasing transparency and building trust.
My entire police career was under the direction of a review board. The Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) have governed the city of Detroit, since 1974. It was created as a result of the 1967 Riots and a long history of racial torment. The BOPC was instrumental in establishing accountability, identifying patterns of force, and building trust the community.
Upon my arrival as police chief in Dallas, one of the largest community concerns within communities of color was the unwillingness of the police department and city government to establish civilian oversight. The Coalition for Community Oversight stated that they had been trying for nearly 40 years. It became my mission to assist the Coalition in establishing this oversight board. I believed in the Dallas Police Department. I believed in the officers and the command team. I knew as the leader, we were going to operate with the highest level of integrity and ethics; and because this was our operational standard, I welcomed the oversight.
Currently, there are approximately 200 Review Boards nationwide. Although most boards report some success in reducing racially biased practices, police use of force incidents and complaints; in many cases they lack the power necessary to act on their findings.
Robinson: Recently, there has been considerable momentum with respect to efforts to identify and eliminate racially biased practices not just related to policing but in the entire judicial system. Share your thoughts on each of these stages of the judicial system and whether it contributes to a racially biased outcome?
Initial criminal investigation
Hall: Everything begins at this stage. As human beings, we all have unconscious bias and numerous factors influence unconscious thought. That bias reflects and affects attitudes as well as stereotypes that influence how information is processed. It’s important, as much as is humanly possible, that bias does not influence this stage. This is crucial to determining who the actual suspects are and what crime has been committed.
Racially biased profiling and arrest of alleged offenders
Hall: During this process officers are relying on video evidence, eyewitness descriptions, or recall of information by a victim or bystanders. It is imperative that there is certainty of identity. If there are mistakes made at this level and the suspect simply “fits the description,” that individual particularly a person of color is required to defend themselves within a - judicial system that has been examined and determined to be flawed.
Racially biased exercise of prosecutorial discretion,
Trial and sentencing – mass incarceration,
Reintegration post-incarceration
Hall: For each of the above, if there are conscious or unconscious biases that exist, it will affect who is given discretion, who is incarcerated, how long and what is available to them post incarceration. This information is found in the data. The responsibility lies with examining each stage to determine if there are inconsistences with respect to race, gender, socioeconomics, etc.
Robinson: What are your thoughts relating to the recent spate of mass shootings in the U.S.? How do the historical tensions we talked about above impact mass shootings in the U.S.?
Hall: Mass shootings are tragedies happening far too often in America. They are in many instances the result of mental illness and easy access to assault weapons. I am proud of President Biden’s Administration for introducing, and Congress for passing, bipartisan gun legislation after nearly three decades. Though national media coverage consists of schools, churches, night clubs and grocery/hypermarkets; local communities also experience mass shootings at alarming rates, predominantly in communities of color.
Historical tensions impact mass shootings as a result of police response or lack thereof. There is a perceived racial double standard. Unarmed black people are killed by police at a rate of three times higher than whites. Meanwhile white armed mass murder suspects, after fatally shooting a number of individuals, are often taken into custody without incident and in one incident taken to Burger King.
Robinson: Chief Hall, please share any social impact tools that you are exploring that may align with more creative law enforcement practices?
Hall: I am in the process of establishing a comprehensive program that provides intergenerational employment, increases literacy, and creates opportunities for wealth building through financial education and training. The program acts as a collaborative within the City of Detroit, with support from private sector corporations, schools, community colleges and non-profit organizations. The potential success of this project would result in a viable work force, decreased crime, decreased poverty rate, and an increase in home ownership within one of the poorest cities in America, which has an 80 percent African American population. The program also addresses the intersection between law enforcement and economic inequalities in communities of color.
Additionally, I am working in partnership with Saul Glick, a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Law School and London Metropolitan Police Officer. Together, we have launched “Police for America.” The initiative is an 8 week pre-police academy that will prepare recruits to challenge the status quo of policing culture through Ivy League academic training, leadership, organizational management/ development, and mentorship.
Robinson: Is the policing framework so ineffective and racially biased in certain instances that it should be completely eliminated, and we should start from scratch? What does start from scratch look like? How would this be different from other suggested police reform measures?
Hall: There are over 18,000 police departments across the country. The overwhelming majority of police officers serve their communities with the highest levels of integrity, ethics, and respect. To acknowledge the ineffectiveness and racial bias that exists within the framework of policing is to also acknowledge and own that the United States of America, the greatest country in the world’s framework is built on racism and systemic racial bias. The answer is not to eliminate it, but to repair, reshape and revise.
Starting from scratch would assume that somehow there would be a creation of a system with national policies, procedures, training, and other mandates that have not been able to be agreed upon and implemented to date. That in the new framework there would be no issue of race and racial bias. It is unrealistic.
The answer to racially biased policing includes Truth, Training, Accountability, and Transparency. Police agencies must acknowledge that racism is woven into the fabric of our country, and therefore it will exist within law enforcement. We must train officers so that they know the history of race and racism specific to policing and the responsibility they have to not repeat the cycle. We must ensure that training modules reinforce anti-bias and anti-racism policies. We must mandate Management Awareness and Early Warning Systems that captures officer behavior and generate mandatory disciplinary actions for violations of policy. Additionally, we should create a nationwide database that tracks officer terminations to eliminate – “wandering officers”, officers who are fired from one agency and rehired by another.
These concepts are consistent with President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Model and “8 Can’t Wait” campaign. The International Association for Chiefs of Police defined these strategies as best practices to promote legitimacy, build trust, safeguard officer well-being, and reduce crime.
About the Author:
Kevin Robinson serves as co-lead and senior editor for the Race and Gender Equity Domain under the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Social Impact Review. He has substantial private sector and public sector legal, governance and strategic expertise and, among other roles, serves as a board member on several community and national non-profit organizations. Kevin is a 2022 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.