Sometimes you can see changes coming from a mile away.
While the legalization of marijuana hasn’t been catastrophic, according to Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour, he believes that departments around the state should have given more time to prepare.
He made that argument and talked about general challenges facing policing during an appearance on WNHH FM’s “Municipal Voice,” a production of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.
“If there’s one criticism of the bill,” Chief Ridenhour said, “it is the speed with which it came out.”
When Gov. Lamont signed Senate Bill 1201 into law on June 22, there were less than 10 days before marijuana use became legal in the state.
“I do not think we’ve been given enough time to train, enough guidance for our people to know exactly what it is that they can and cannot do,” Rindenhour.
The 300-plus page bill contains so much material that many municipalities are putting the brakes on retail sales of marijuana to assess if it’s right for their town or city.
One part that Ridenhour believes the law gets right is the expunging of old records for the low level possession of marijuana.
“I don’t think any small-time offense should ruin someone’s ability to get decent housing or decent employment,” he said. “I think just a simple possession offense shouldn’t ruin someone for the rest of their life.”
In terms of employment, there is still some hesitation on his part: “You know there are certain jobs such as this one where it’s just not in anyone’s best interest for us to be under the influence of any sort of drug like marijuana.”
But with legalization here, and perhaps with federal legalization not too far away, he said, they are going to have to square the circle as societal norms change.
This holds true for policing in general as well. He argues that over the past 10 to 15 years, police officers were asked to do more and more “because no one else was available to do it.”
With the police accountability bill, there’s some need to change the way policing is done. In particular, he argues for partnerships with social workers and mental health professionals.
“You can’t take away from what the police are doing,” he argues, “but you can enhance that through those partnerships.”
Ultimately, the police department is a reflexive department. If the people want to legalize marijuana, it can do so through a new law, and the police will stop giving citations for that. If the people want social workers to do ride-alongs, that can be done.
“It’s nice to have a room full of people who are cheerleaders, but I don’t know if that helps move the needle,” the chief said. “It’s nice to have some people who have some concerns so they get an opportunity to see what we do, why we do it, and for them to be able to offer some suggestions on how we can do better.”
"[Ridenhour] argues that over the past 10 to 15 years, police officers were asked to do more and more 'because no one else was available to do it.' "
And then he says "You can't take away from what the police are doing," adding that social workers or mental health professionals can ride along with police officers.
Why is police work like a Roach Motel: You can add responsibilities, but you can't take any away? Maybe armed officers highly trained are not the best qualified -- even needed -- for many aspects of what is now considered police work. For instance, why can't traffic violations be enforced the same way that parking citations are dispensed by Meter Attendants? If relieving the burdens from cops is seen as focusing their professional expertise, instead of some kind of misguided punishment -- well, maybe we all win.