THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250254
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
Police Chief Melvin C. High says he was surprised and disappointed with a police union morale survey that stated he was out of touch with his officers and has lost their support. But he denies he is angry.
``I look at it as an optimist. I'm going to attempt to use the data to improve relations between the chief's office and all the members of the force,'' High said on Friday.
High, Norfolk's first black police chief, took over the force in 1993. He was given a mission to broaden and improve the city's community policing program - a shift from traditional police methods.
``In an organization there's always differences and disagreement. I'll be the first to admit that,'' High said. ``Sometimes . . . change can be difficult.''
The survey responses hurt most, he said, when it attacked his leadership style.
``I practice participative management,'' he said. ``I'm a person who believes leadership is far deeper than the chief. I try to be inclusive.
``What I've tried to do, as I approach living, is not to spend a lot of time being vindictive or harboring ills.''
Complaints, like those in the survey results, often arise at this point in a city's fiscal year when the next budget is being prepared, High said.
``When you get to budget time this is some of what happens,'' he said.
High came to Norfolk after serving as a ranking officer on the Washington force. His community policing strategy is credited by the city with helping decrease the Norfolk's 1994 crime rate by 10.5 percent, the largest reduction in 22 years.
The City Council, community leaders and a biracial organization of police officers all said they strongly support the chief. On Thursday, Mayor Paul Fraim repeated what he said at a Tuesday council meeting: High has the complete support of the council.
``We've got a good man in Chief High, and we support him,'' Fraim said. ``That's the unanimous feeling of the council.''
On Friday, the council issued an official statement backing High. It stated:
``We believe Chief High may be bearing personally the brunt of criticism that should be put in larger perspective. The challenges facing today's police officers are stressful. These include a shift in philosophy to community policing; a younger and more violent criminal element; more intense public scrutiny; and the fiscal stress of cities trying to equip their officers to meet the challenges of the streets. Chief High cannot stem this tide of change alone. His job is to help police personnel become equipped to deal with constant change.''
The council also stated: ``The timing of this presentation comes as city administration is working on a budget to present to Council. The public safety community has a history of becoming quite vocal during the budget process. All Norfolk police chiefs have borne the brunt of budget complaints, not just Chief High.''
The survey was co-sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and the Fraternal Order of Police. It was answered by 410 of the 667 officers queried, and covered a wide range of topics, including supervision, discipline and pay.
Fraim said he had known about the survey for months, but he did not know that police officers planned to appear en masse at Tuesday's council meeting, on the day that the survey results were released.
The mayor also said High has been enforcing departmental regulations more often.
``I think a lot of it is a resistance to change,'' Fraim said. ``The chief is attempting to enforce in-house rules and regulations, in a manner that they haven't been enforced as quickly as in the past.''
For example, Fraim said, High is now suspending police officers who fail to make scheduled court appearances.
Discipline is one of the department's most serious issues, High said. He said he has suspended a number of officers who haven't made their court appearances because a person accused of a crime has the right to confront the arresting officer.
The survey caught the attention of the Tidewater Law Enforcement Officers Association, an organization of black and white officers. The group, which does not support or endorse the survey, issued a statement:
``Many of the problems pointed out in the morale survey existed before Chief High came on board. It is totally unfair to judge him based on conditions which existed and frustrations police officers experienced long before he came to Norfolk.''
Officer Anthony Walker, the group's president, said the morale survey didn't truly reflect High's leadership.
``It's a scapegoat mechanism,'' he said. ``It's a small element that's creating all this confusion.''
The survey isn't credible, Walker said, because the questions and results were orchestrated by the union. In addition, he said, only 61 percent of the queries were returned.
Officer P.A. Sams, a member of the association, said High has methods of staying in touch with the rank-and-file. He said the chief has one-on-one meetings with officers, walks beats with officers, holds productivity luncheons and has started a monthly newsletter.
``There's a lot of avenues to approach the chief,'' said Sams. I feel I can approach the chief anytime, and not just because he's black and I'm black.''
Race was not a primary factor in determining the survey's results, Walker said. High has support from black and white officers as well a members of the community.
The survey struck at the core of High's mission in Norfolk by reporting that many officers have little understanding of how PACE, the city's community-policing program, is supposed to work.
That statement by officers mirrored a study released in November by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum. In that report, some officers said PACE is a public relations gimmick that has done nothing but drain patrols from other areas.
The comments came as a surprise to Walter Dickerson, vice president of the Norfolk Neighborhood Crime Prevention Coalition.
Dickerson, who has worked closely with PACE in his neighborhood, said if more officers understood the program, they would have responded differently on the survey.
``I don't think they were against community policing, I think that comes from not knowing,'' Dickerson said. ``I think it's a matter of not having the proper indoctrination.''
High said PACE is a working, growing part of the department, but it's been resisted by some officers.
``Police officers have to stretch,'' he said. ``It takes some growth to meet the holistic approach to policing.''
The department has been working to address other issues raised in the survey such as training, education, equipment, facilities and pay, he said.
High said he supports a 20-year retirement plan called for in the survey.
``If we can figure a way to reasonably pay for it, I think our officers are deserving of it,'' he said.
High said he hopes meetings with union officials will help bring all police groups closer together.
``I'm willing to come together with the union. I want a positive outcome of this, to sincerely hear what they're saying,'' he said. ``They can discuss those issues with me and they'll see some response and good results.'' MEMO: Staff writer Alex Marshall contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Melvin C. High
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT ATTITUDE SURVEY by CNB