Preface To ANN’s Second Audio Interview With APD’s Police Chief
HEAR THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT BOTTOM OF STORY
When three new officers were sworn into the ranks of APD in early August of 2023, they took an ill-defined, standard oath, administered by APD Chief Nishant Joshi, to obey The Constitutions of The United States and California along with Alameda City laws and ordinances, and follow the proviso to “faithfully discharge the duties of my position as a police officer to the best of my ability.”
What exactly those words mean when officers hit the street and deal with the thousands of different scenarios they encounter is a whole different matter when it comes to police culture, police abuse of authority and the issue of public trust in police forces.
The oath does not provide much guidance to either them or the public pertaining to the personal and professional character and values they are bound by, in other words police culture.
Photo credit to APD Police Crime Scene Investigator Joe Castaneda.
The culture of those granted vast discretionary power and use of force –sometimes lethal– over individuals has become the subject of a pointed, often heated, national dialogue in the wake of the George Floyd police murder and scores of other headline making police abuses of authority.
Such incidents are anathema to the Chief, who said, “Frankly, I am disgusted by anyone who wears a police uniform and dishonors it,” in a telling statement about the caliber of character he requires from those on Alameda’s police force.
In this second, exclusive audio interview with ANN, Chief Joshi provides multiple particulars about his mission to ingrain and reinforce the values and human characteristics his officers must possess and how those comport with the power that police hold and exercise in the public sphere.
The Chief discusses officer accountability, the use of officer evaluation and performance reviews, and what happens when feedback about an officer is negative.
He also elaborates on how APD officers must balance personal qualities of compassion and sensitivity in the face of challenges to their authority and their mission to provide public safety, not the opposite.
The interview also explores APD police transparency as a counterforce to negative police culture, particularly “police subcultures “ that value secrecy and solidarity among officers who fail to live up to the highest ethics that allow them to wear the badge.
LISTEN HERE: