A police department in a troubled city implements comprehensive reforms - community policing, de-escalation training, early intervention systems, civilian oversight - and five years later, use of force is down, complaints are down, community trust is up, and the department is cited as national model, proof that change is possible. An officer who grew up in the neighbourhood she patrols knows residents by name, responds to their concerns, prevents violence through relationships, and is beloved figure who represents what policing could be. A chief transforms a department from civil rights disaster to reform example through sustained commitment to change, demonstrating that leadership matters and improvement is possible. A community and police department work together over years to address crime while building relationships, achieving outcomes that neither could achieve alone. Success stories exist - examples where policing works as intended, where communities and police genuinely partner, where outcomes improve for everyone. The question is what these successes teach us about what is possible.
The Case for Learning from Success
Advocates argue that success stories demonstrate possibility, that they provide models for replication, and that focusing only on failures creates distorted picture.
Success proves possibility. Where communities and police work well together, the example demonstrates that good policing is possible. Cynicism that nothing can change is contradicted by places where things have changed. Hope is warranted by evidence of success.
Successes provide models. What worked in one place may work in others. Studying successful departments, successful officers, and successful partnerships provides blueprints. Best practices can spread. Learning from success is as important as learning from failure.
Balance requires acknowledging success. Exclusive focus on police failures creates distorted picture. Officers who serve well, departments that improve, communities that partner effectively - these are also part of the story. Accurate understanding requires including success.
From this perspective, success stories should: be studied for what can be learned; be shared to demonstrate possibility; provide hope that change is achievable; and balance focus on failures with attention to what works.
The Case for Success Skepticism
Critics argue that success stories may be exceptions that prove little, that celebrating success may obscure ongoing problems, and that what is called success may not be what communities experience.
Exceptions do not disprove patterns. A few successful departments do not change the reality that policing is problematic in many places. Individual good officers do not offset institutional problems. Success stories may be used to avoid addressing systemic failures.
Success may be proclaimed prematurely. Departments declared reformed sometimes return to old patterns. Success that depends on specific leaders may not survive leadership change. What looks like success may not last.
Success for whom? What police call success may not match community experience. Metrics may improve while experience does not. Celebrated examples may not represent what residents actually experience. Whose definition of success matters?
From this perspective, success claims should: be evaluated critically; not be used to avoid addressing ongoing problems; be verified from community perspective; and be understood as partial and possibly temporary.
The Replicability Question
Can success be replicated?
From one view, what worked in one place can work in others. Successful approaches can be adapted. If some departments achieve good outcomes, others can learn from them. Replication is possible and should be pursued.
From another view, success may depend on local conditions that cannot be replicated - specific leaders, specific community history, specific resources. What worked there may not work here. Context matters more than model.
Whether success transfers affects what can be learned from examples.
The Sustainability Question
Does success last?
From one perspective, some successes have proven durable. Departments that changed have stayed changed. Leadership committed to change has sustained it. Success can last when institutionalized.
From another perspective, many reforms have been reversed when leadership changed or attention shifted. Progress under consent decrees has sometimes eroded after oversight ended. What does not last was not really success.
Whether success is sustained affects what success means.
The Definition Question
What counts as success?
From one view, success is measurable - reduced force, reduced complaints, increased community trust. Metrics provide objective assessment. Data shows what worked.
From another view, success is experiential. What matters is how communities experience policing, whether people feel safe and respected. Metrics may not capture experience. Community voice defines success.
How success is defined shapes what we look for and find.
The Question
When policing works as intended, what makes it work? When success in one place does not spread, what barriers prevent spread? If good officers and good departments exist, why do problems persist? When success is celebrated while problems continue, what is the celebration for? What would policing that was generally successful rather than exceptionally successful look like? And when we point to success stories, are we demonstrating possibility or avoiding responsibility?