In this 23rdepisode of the RF Factor, Pete and George welcome a distinguished guest, Joe Sullivan, former Deputy Commissioner of Patrol Operations and 30 year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department. Joe has experience across just about every element of the department’s special operations and has played a role in just about every critical event occurring in the City during his tenure there.
Hear Joe’s thoughts on leadership and accountability, his answer to the question posed to him of whether it’s better for a police commander to be loved or feared within the department may – or may not – surprise you.
Most importantly hear Joe’s views on the involvement of the community he served – a common theme throughout his interview. A theme that led him to discuss the importance of using evidence-based data to deploy resources and lead operations that meet the community's needs and concerns by targeting the “right criminals in the right places”.
Hear Joe talk about the importance of balancing cross-jurisdictional teamwork, policy-driven tactics, and leveraging technologies, and how regional intelligence centers and focused ones like Crime Gun Intelligence Centers and how crucial they are to helping maintain that balance.
Joe’s thoughts on the recruitment and training of new officers are refreshing and provide hope for the future of policing.
Most importantly, however, Joe raises a warning on the future of policing in America – a warning heard from our other guests by the way – Joe points out that the preservation of the peace and protection of the public is simply not the sole responsibility of the police and it was never meant to be and it could never succeed that way.
We actually rely upon an integrated system involving communities of people and branches of government at various levels.
Our system of justice also has many elements and the police are simply one of those elements most visible because they are positioned where the rubber meets the road – on our streets.
Joe’s warning, described in RF Factor terms, is that: The pursuit of happiness and the achievement of liberty and justice for all, requires that each element - in each system – simply do its job.
Episode #23 - Joe Sullivan