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COLUMBUS, Ga. — “Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way.” — Gen. George S. Patton.
This is the first article in a five-part series on the recent Operational Assessment of the Columbus Police Department, as presented to city council by Jensen Hughes on February 14, 2023.
One year ago, their legitimate concerns were dismissed as “racism.” Today, it’s quite clear they were anything but. The officers of the Columbus Police Department are now having their voices taken seriously by city officials — and the scapegoat word of “racism” is finally nowhere to be found.
During the city council meeting held yesterday, representatives of the firm Jensen Hughes formally presented their findings of a world-class study of the department’s entire operation. Throughout this five part series, we’re going to take a look at the intricacies of the presentation and its findings, the follow-up presentation given by police chief Freddie Blackmon, and the reactions from our city officials.
We’ll start by breaking down the detailed presentation delivered by Jensen Hughes in today’s article, and then take a look at Chief Blackmon’s follow-up presentation tomorrow — including a bit of a look at what he could have done differently, but chose not to.
Here’s what happened during the Jensen Hughes presentation, along with our take on the entirety of the situation at the very end of this article.
THE SCENE
In his usual blue-striped tie, Mayor Skip Henderson began the meeting’s agenda. Many officers could be seen in the crowd sporting jackets and other apparel of the Columbus Police Department. It was clear that those in attendance were there for one reason and one reason only: to show support for the officers of our city’s police force who were finally having their previously-dismissed voices vindicated after years of holding the line in the face of atrocious leadership.
As the meeting began, the crowd waited through three other presentations — including a full annual financial report — before the day’s headline event was slated to begin. It was almost as if the item was prioritized behind the others in hopes that some in attendance might choose to leave, thus lessening the presence of support in the chamber.
But they didn’t leave.
Roughly a half-hour into the meeting, Mayor Henderson introduced the staff of Jensen Hughes to present their Operational Assessment of the Columbus Police Department. Henderson’s introduction immediately began to minimize rather-localized severity of the department’s leadership, staffing, and retention issues:
“We saw what was happening around the county with regard to law enforcement, and so many challenges — whether it was staffing, or violent crime going up,” Henderson said.
It appeared as if Henderson had forgotten that the only reason the $190k world-class study even needed to be conducted — which was privately funded by a group of local community leaders — was because city officials dismissed the officers' concerns for over a year as the department continued to fall apart at the behest of chief Freddie Blackmon.
The professional insights of Jensen Hughes strongly seemed to agree.
JENSEN HUGHES TAKES THE MIC
Sydney Roberts, JD, MS, a senior law enforcement consultant for Jensen Hughes with more than 20 years of law enforcement experience stood front-and-center at the podium. Roberts began by thanking the council, mayor, and local community for giving Jensen Hughes the opportunity to conduct the assessment. Roberts emphasized how passionate the staff of Jensen Hughes is for policing, as they themselves all come from long careers in senior command positions in departments throughout the country.
WHAT THEY WERE ASKED TO DO
After some lengthy technical issues in coordinating microphone feeds and video conferencing with staff located across the country, Roberts carried on with the presentation by explaining what it actually was that Jensen Hughes was asked to do regarding the dysfunctional state of the Columbus Police Department.
There were five main tasks Jensen Hughes set out to accomplish through their study:
WHAT THEY DID
Jensen Hughes then explained what the firm actually did to deliver what was asked of them. The firm’s strategic approach was plainly visible through both its visual aids and Roberts’ communication methods, making it easy for all in the audience to understand the connections of cause-and-effect between the firm’s goals and the methods through which they acted to achieve them.
There were six methods through which Jensen Hughes conducted their assessment of the department’s inner workings, each of which served a specific purpose, working together to deliver what was asked of them:
KEY FINDINGS
Roberts carried on the presentation by highlighting the key findings of what the firm discovered through their intense study of the Columbus Police Department. Roberts placed special emphasis on the astounding level of dedication of CPD’s officers have in serving their community. This notion was repeated several times throughout the entire presentation.
Roberts then went on to discuss those key findings individually, which were:
With the presentation of this single slide, years-worth of legitimate concerns raised by countless officers were finally beginning to become publicly and professionally vindicated after being dangerously and falsely dismissed as “racism” by city officials.
Roberts also highlighted that the department has continued to be supported by a strong business community that is willing to invest in not only the police department, but in the city as a whole.
The assessment’s key findings were then continued on a second slide and began to dive into the department’s serious leadership and communication concerns.
Those additional key findings were:
While briefing the bullet points outlined above, Roberts emphasized the severe lack of internal communication within the department. Roberts stated that there were officers who did not know what was supposed to be happening within the department.
Additionally, Roberts highlighted that officers were not provided with the opportunity to weigh in on how decisions were being made. While it was quite apparent that Roberts was strongly mincing her words, any police officer in Columbus reading this knows that it means “Chief Blackmon and his command staff do not communicate with their officers, bar none.”
Roberts also emphasized issues with how the department does not effectively use its crime data and intelligence effectively, if at all, to combat gang activity in Columbus. This is a key point, as Chief Blackmon’s background largely centered around intelligence analysis and crime data; the same things the department is now lacking in under his command.
Roberts then gave a brief description of the importance of community engagement and proactive policing, specifically how necessary it is for officers to build intentional relationships within the communities they police in order to prevent crime — though that, too, was heavily lacking throughout Chief Blackmon’s CPD.
An intensive staffing study was also conducted, which Roberts explained in detail. In a polite and softened fashion, Roberts mentioned the “opportunity that exists” to hire more police officers so the department would have the manning it needs for proactive policing.
In the same soft-worded manner, Roberts said that while pay was a small factor in officer retention, there were “ other factors that we also identified” that are impacting the department’s ability to keep its officers on the force.
So what were those additional factors?
In a single word: Leadership.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Roberts continued the presentation by explaining Jensen Hughes’ recommendations for how the department should seek to move forward in order to address the problems found within the firm’s key findings.
That list started with the following items:
Roberts emphasized that the operational assessment is not merely meant as a mechanism for determining what is right or wrong within the Columbus Police Department, but to provide it with a detailed road map for how the agency can move forward. This is a key point, as it removes any plausible deniability for CPD’s leadership to being able to claim “I don’t know what to do or how to do it.” This world-class firm just told you.
It is also important to note that this assessment and its findings have been in Chief Blackmon’s possession since November of 2022, yet nothing has been done to outline even the most fundamentally-prioritized items on this list. Instead, The Muckraker has continued to receive dozens of communications from officers who have provided insight on how the department has continued to erode.
Roberts took the time to again emphasize the importance of ensuring that officers have a voice within the department, and that their voice is heard and listened to by the department’s leadership.
Are we sensing a theme yet?
Roberts stated that the department’s leadership should be focused on creating an environment that people want to work in; a place where they can enjoy the work they do as opposed to seeing it as a daily burden to bear.
How about now? Are we seeing the theme now?
The firm’s recommendations were then continued on a second slide labeled as slide 3, though it was in fact the second slide chronologically briefed:
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That continued list of recommendations included:
While Roberts stressed that the recommendations on these slides are only a shortened, highlighted list of the more than 70 total recommendations they were making to CPD, the list still spilled over onto a third slide — even to brief the highlights:
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Keep in mind that this enormous list contains only the highlighted recommendations, which are continued below:
Let’s say that last part again for those in the back:
Addressing the development of leadership within the organization is critical for future success.
Are we seeing the theme yet?
THE BOTTOM LINE OF COLD HARD REALITY
This isn't the same sort of endeavor as training a corporate CEO. This is a police department in a gang-ridden city.
One either possesses the experience through which the ability to lead men and women in the Profession of Arms is honed, or they do not. Ask anyone who has ever worked in that profession before: we do not ever “rise to the occasion,” but rather we “fall to the lowest-level of our training.” Go ask. They will tell you.
If the private sector of our community is required to hire a world-class firm to perform an operational assessment of our police department, and the findings all continue to point at a failure of senior leadership at the tippy-top of that department, and those findings continue to match verbatim the complaints that those same officers continue to make on a daily basis, then why on earth would we then prefer to retain that officer by paying out of our citizens’ own pockets to teach him how to do the very job he was expected to do upon his hiring over two years ago?
Do the victims’ families get a second chance? Why do commanders who meet the criteria for being relieved for cause continue to be given chance after chance?
Perhaps we ought to recognize the inherent nepotism within the answer to the rhetorical questions above.
People are dying because of this.
Has anyone seen Lieutenant (Norman) Dike?
Stay tuned for the second article in this five-article series, where we take a look at Chief Blackmon’s follow-up presentation that occurred right after Jensen Hughes’ — including a bit of a look at what he could have done differently, but chose not to.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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