The Force and the Resistance: Why Changing the Police Force is Neither Inevitable, nor Impossible

Change is hard. Even with desire, urgency, and clear instructions on how to change, many efforts fail. Yet not all change efforts are doomed. Studies show that people can evolve and, when they do, their evolution happens in a patterned and replicable way. Organizations, which are created, directed, and made up of people, are no different. Indeed, organizational psychology and change-management theory— embraced in the business sector—shed light on what would be necessary to create the conditions for more lasting change in policing. This article makes the case for employing such an approach. After first describing the gap between policing culture today and the “guardian” culture described as ideal by the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, it summarizes failed efforts to change police forces in that direction and then apply a useful frame from organizational psychology to demonstrate how to overcome resistance to change and move towards a future without law enforcement use of unnecessary force.