TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1045316
Arriving as an outsider, Bassett's sta- tus as a decorated Marine gave him half a chance—albeit only half a chance. "If I'd just been some Yale graduate going in there, I'd have been chewed up," he admits. The fact remained that he was a Yale graduate, and hardly welcomed with open arms. His solution was to get out there among his men. In barely a month, he visited each and every single state po- lice precinct, to ask and to listen. "Racial discord, the school bus, hous- ing: things that interjected police into situations they generally hadn't been trained for," he muses. "The image of law enforcement was pretty near rock bot- tom. So the question was: what can we do, to change the image from foe to friend? What can we do to make people feel that he's a partner with us in the community?" At each post, Bassett ended his pre- sentation by asking the men if they had questions or comments. Silence. But what could he expect? The sergeants and of- ficers were all sitting there, too. So he picked men out at random: "You. And you. And you. And you. I want to speak with you afterwards." Taking them aside, he said, "Now listen. I want to know what's on your mind. For- get that canned speech I gave you. What would you do if you were me? If we want to make this thing better, togeth- er, I need to hear what the men are saying. What's the number one issue? Is it money? Is it time? Is it retirement? Is it the uniform? Is it the car? B u t— te l l — me—what—is— o n — y o u r— g o d d a m n — mind!?" YOU CAN'T EVER DO IT ALL ON YOUR OWN. EVEN IF YOU ARE A SURGEON, YOU NEED SOMEBODY HANDING YOU THE INSTRUMENTS. YOU CAN STAND ALONE, ON PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLE. BUT IN ACHIEVING AN OBJECTIVE, YOU CAN'T.