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Howard County police chief pushes message of accountability and community policing
Police reform has been the topic of conversation recently, but one Maryland department says they’re ahead of the curve.
LAUREL, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Chief Lisa Myers says it’s nothing new.
On Monday, the Howard County Police Department released a video of Chief Myers speaking to recruits on their first day.
“You will know and be competent in your de-escalation techniques and how you engage our community as you are competent in driving a car and knowing how to appropriately apply handcuffs,” says Chief Myers.
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Howard County Police Chief Lisa Myers takes part in a panel discussion at the Women in Law Enforcement event at the James N. Robey Public Safety Training Center. Myers is the county's first female and African American police chief. (Kim Hairston/Balt …
The video, which has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook, highlight’s the department’s ethos in terms of community policing.
Chief Myers says her message is especially important given today’s climate.
“There has been a tremendous amount of angst over the last couple of weeks,” says Myers. “As we see things on the news, you know, just reprehensible actions by police officers, so many of our officers come back and say that is not who we are. This is horrible. So, when they see things like the video it’s like, ‘Wow this is great.’ Because this is yet another opportunity for our community to see that even behind closed doors on day one this is the message that we put out to our people. This is the practice that we adhere to every single day as police.”